Be My Valentine
by Nicsp
Summary: A collection of Headcannons about Nurse Valentine from Skullgirls, as well as a few other characters, organized chronologically as I write all of it from Valentine's point of view. Chapter five is out, we shall be having some drama up in here! Also, we shall be understanding a bit better about each character's priorities. If you like it (Or not), please let me know with a review.
1. Dead On Arrival (Chapter 1)

(Howdy. I've just registered to but I've been meaning to post a Skullgirls fan fiction for quite a while now, it being probably one of the games on my top list and what not, and with it's lore being specially intriguing to me. This series will mostly be a collection of several head-cannons I have for the game, mostly concerning Valentine's background, with a little bit of a few other characters here and there. Most of my experience with writing comes from Role playing rather than writing out on my own, but hopefully I can adapt without much trouble. Without further ado, let's get started, shall we?)

Ah~~

Canopolis.

Home of the Canopy Kingdom, ruled by the Renoirs, this prosperous land was filled with sights of both beauty and despair. While the nobles sheltered themselves away from the rest of the world in their casinos, mansions and parties, the common folk slummed about the dirt, getting stomped on by mafia, corruption, disease and whatever else decided to set it's eyes on them...No, really, wonderful place though, especially for family vacations, the slums are perfect for pictures, they're colorful and look very lively, good thing photos don't carry smell though.

Enough rambling, the point of this story is not to sell you tickets to Kingdom, rather, to talk about a specific woman who lives here. Of course, she doesn't live on Canopolis...Not yet, at least. At the moment, she's just arrived at the city by bus. The bulky transit bus puffed out smoke as it finally stopped, the driver cleared up his throat and then grumbled out.

"Renoir Palace. This is your stop, Miss..."

"Valerie." The woman responded, her eyes locked on the majestic palace before her. Surrounded by tall buildings, the palace stood taller than any of them, piercing high into the skies with it's ivory towers, decorated with the motif of the Renoirs. Such a beautiful sight, it could easily bring tears to someone's eyes...Or maybe that could be just the fact you almost have to stare so close to the sun to get a good view of the whole thing.

"Thanks for letting me know." She cut off, before then getting down from the bus, grabbing her luggage and stepping down onto the streets. Her white shoes gently tapped against the cold streets as Valerie then seemed to take another moment to fully take in the sight ahead of her. Since we're talking about her shoes, I think this would be a nice point for us to give you a good idea of what Valerie herself looks like, wouldn't you agree?

Our protagonist sported medium-length blue hair, reaching down to her shoulders, pale skin and dark red eyes. Her slender six feet of height would make her look like a stick, weren't it for her wide hips and chest, which evened out her figure. Speaking of her figure, most of it was currently covered up in a long white dress suit, that went down past her knees. A red scarf which was carefully tucked into her coat gave her clothing the much needed color, though it focused everyone's view on her face, as her skin and the dress nearly molded into a single shade of white.

Letting out a short sigh, the bluenette waltzed her way over to the palace, her shoes tapping lightly as her swung about ever so slightly.

"Halt." Announced the guards at the door, two of the "Black Egrets", the Renoir's armed force. Brownish outfits with helmet and masks, leaving only their yellow eye goggles. Around their right arm, a band with the symbol of the Renoirs. Both carried rifles on their hands and pistols around their waists. One of the guards continued. "You are approaching the Renoir palace, state your business."

Valerie fixed her hair, pushing her bangs out of her face, before replying. "I understand the Black Egrets are recruiting, are they not? I'm here to join." She announced, her lips curling up slightly in a smile as she spoke. That smile quickly dropped into a frown, however as she noticed the Egrets chuckling at her resolve. "Don't get me wrong, dear. But just because we accept people from anywhere, that doesn't mean we actually take in anyone. We have tests and exams. Only the best actually get admitted." The soldier bragged, resting his rifle over his shoulder. "Why don't you spare yourself the embarrassment and get yourself back home, huh? Keep yourself from breaking your nails, eh?" He chuckled some more.

Before Valerie got to break her nails on the Egret's face, however, someone delivered her retribution for her in the form of an oversized exhaust pipe delivered to the back of the guard's head. Not strong enough to cause actual brain damage, sadly, but strong enough to get through the helmet and make him wince a bit. "Why I ought to-" The guard cut himself off and then saluted when he realized who he was talking to. "Roxie, Si- Ma'am!"

Before them stood the Egrets's ace mechanic, Rosie, usually called Roxie by the Egrets. The bulky, dark skinned woman sported her usual baggy and heavy clothing, stained with oil. The red bandana on her head did it's best to keep her puffy hair held down, though a puff of her brown curly hair still managed to sneak it's way out around the side of her head. "Do me a favor and end yer' shift early. If that's how you been receiving the recruits, it's no wonder we ain't been getting that many people." The soldier raised a finger to reply, but Roxie simply stared him down. "Now." With a whimper, the soldier scampered off and once he was out of view, Roxie turned her eyes to Valerie.

"...So. You want to join the Egrets, do ya? I don't suppose ya got any previous experience with-?" Valerie interrupted. "I do. I was a field medic in the Grand War. I didn't actually go face to face against the Gigans or the Rooks but...Well, being in the field, you end up learning how to defend yourself."

The mechanic smiled widely and nodded. "And to think that scrap head almost turned you away, you've no idea how hard it is to find people with experience around here. Come on over, I'll take you to get signed up. First things first though, I've gotta tell the Princess I'm done fixing her car." Roxie explained, waving the exhaust pipe around slightly. "You don't mind accompanying me, do you?"

"No. Not at all, that's quite all right. I'll be working under her after all, won't I? I suppose I ought to know her as soon as possible." Valerie affirmed, following the mechanic into the actual palace grounds. Before entering the actual castle, the castle's massive courtyard was populated with soldiers and recruits, going about their daily training routines and what not. Roxie led Valerie to the shooting range, as evidenced by the loud sounds of gunfire that echoed from the building. Roxie made her way to the source of the noise, with the medic right behind. She tapped the exhaust pipe against the wall, making a loud sound to announce her arrival, followed by her equally loud voice. "Oi! Your Highness! Your car's working again already."

Valerie winced a bit at all the noise, but then focused her eyes on the princess. Upon hearing Roxie, the princess set down her pistol on the table, followed by her ear muffs. She slowly turned to face the mechanic, carrying a graceful smile on her lips. "Excellent work, Roxie. I knew I could count on you." Princess Parasoul Renoir, heir to the Canopy Kingdom, by all means she should already be called Queen, since she was handling everything by herself ever since her mother's disappearance and her father's death. Ruling a whole kingdom while simultaneously leading an elite army force, while also having to deal with a hyperactive younger sister? It was a wonder she even found time to sleep. The Princess had long straight red hair and amber eyes, wearing a black blouse, skirt and shoes, she stood almost as a complete opposite to Valerie, whom the Princess then took note of. "And who is this, Roxie? I'm sorry, I believe we haven't been properly introduced...I am Princess Parasoul Renoir, leader of the Black Egrets, may I have your name?" Parasoul requested, holding her hand out for a handshake.

Valerie stared down at Parasoul's hand, and then her eyes slowly travelled back up to Parasoul's face, without moving an inch, the bluenette replied. "Valerie. I expect your "leadership" is the reason why the Black Egrets are so desperately looking anywhere for recruits?" Roxie immediately puffed up, her nostrils huffing like truck pipes. "Why I ought to-"

"It's fine, Roxie." Parasoul interjected, before then retreating her hand to her side and turning her focus to Valerie once more. "The Black Egrets have always welcomed people from any and all walks of life. This recruitment campaign is merely a result of the Grand War and the subsequent fight with the Skullgirl, we've lost many good soldiers with those unfortunate events."

"Yeah, your mother sure did a number on everyone, didn't she? I heard she was classified as the most powerful Skullgirl the world has ever seen, took the three kingdoms actually having to suck their pride up and working together to finally take her down." Roxie was positively irate at this point, but the Princess kept a neutral expression, she smiled at Valerie.

"You could say that. But her wish from the Skullheart did come true in the end, we have peace, as uneasy as it may be. Though I intend to keep that peace in my reign, while also being on the watch out for future Skullgirl threats, I do not wish history to repeat itself, after all I believe it would be wise for us all to learn from the past, to keep ourselves from repeating others mistakes."

"Oh yeah? And how do you intend to keep that peace, hm? You going to throw bombs and bullets at whoever speaks up against you like your father did? Or are you going to ask the Medici to deal with them from under the table?" Valerie crossed her arms and stared down at the princess, waiting for a reaction.

The princess simply shot another smile at Valerie, then gladly replied. "No, in fact. I would much rather avoid any further conflict, but the Canopy Kingdom will be ready to reply to any hostility that comes towards us. I also intend to make the Medici family answer for their crimes, once they receive proper judgment. Their status or power cannot protect them from me for too long. Enough about me, however, I take it you are here to join the Black Egrets, Miss Valerie?"

"Oh, right, I am. Roxie, now that you've delivered your message to "Your Majesty", could you show me where I can get signed up?" Roxie had murder in her eyes as she stared back at Valerie, she seemed about to just try and land a punch on the woman's face, Parasoul interjected however. "Yes, Roxie, please, escort Miss Valerie to the Recruitment Office and get her a room, if you please."

With an annoyed huff, Roxie complied, and opened the door for Valerie to head on ahead. Once the bluenette left the room, Parasoul called the mechanic's attention for a final addendum, her expression now serious and annoyed. "And also, tell Adam to keep a close eye on her." Roxie fixed her bandana before nodding and heading after Valerie. "Didn't even have to ask."

A short walk and some paperwork earlier, Valerie was signed up to join the Black Egrets, Roxie had left to attend to other matters and the woman was now being accompanied by Officer Adam Kapowski, second in-command for the Black Egrets. The young man sported gray hair and bright blue eyes, wearing the usual Black Egret uniform. Looking at him, Valerie couldn't help but think about how...Average, he was. It wasn't an insult of course, though not really a compliment either. Adam looked like that sort of guy who'd have a wife, one son and a dog. The kind of average Joe who always pays his bills on time, works during the day and then comes home in the afternoon to talk with his wife and child about the weather while he drinks coffee. The kind of guy who, as a hobby, goes fishing in the weekends. Valerie shivered, never mind, that was an insult.

"These will be your quarters from now on. Unless of course you're not chosen to join, in which case, we'll have to ask you to vacate the room for other recruits." Adam explained, handing over the keys for Valerie to enter the room herself. Her room wasn't actually inside the palace, though that was to be expected. There were barracks neatly annexed to the main building, though not actually connected to it, where most of the Black Egrets slept and ate at. The place wasn't that badly kept, surprising, still needed to have a look at what the insides of the room looked like, but from what she could say, this place actually looked decent enough for someone to live in. Wonder what are the local rules on noise though, they probably wouldn't enjoy Valerie's afternoon classical music sessions, few people did anyways, she'd probably have to muffle up the music a bit, what a shame-

"Did you get all that?" Valerie snapped back as she noticed Joe- Adam, had finished talking. Not wanting him to possibly repeat himself, the bluenette nodded in response. "Yeah. Yeah, sure." The Egret Officer smiled in approval and headed off. "Good. Remember, your first exam is tomorrow at seven o'clock. So try to get some sleep." The medic nodded in response distractedly and simply headed off into her room, it had been a long trip and right now a good night of sleep sounded like it'd be a good idea.

At first glance, the room appeared to be...Adequate. There was a single bed with white sheets and two pillows, a night stand next to it with a lamp, a wardrobe, a sofa, a short table, and an office desk, accompanied by a chair. The room lacked a ceiling light, but made up for it by having a lamp post next to the desk. That, coupled with the lamp on the nightstand was more than enough to properly illuminate the room. Valerie's first thought, regardless, was that she would have to do some re-decorating on this room...Followed by wondering if the others would mind if she ordered some noodles, the average rations they served in military barracks tasted like crap, anyways.

Enough of this, however, the time was getting late and, according to Adam, there would be much to be done in the morning. Tossing her luggage aside and deciding to skip dinner, the bluenette took a deep sigh and then dropped herself on the bed, quickly dozing off into dream world, as she awaited the next day to rise.


	2. Check-Up (Chapter 2)

From between the windowsills, came the joyful light of a new day, shining upon Canopolis!

"Uurrrrghhhhh." Grumbled Valerie, as she forced herself to get off the bed, rubbing her own face as she did her best to wake herself up. As she very well remembered, or at least should remember, she would have some kind of first exam to join the Egrets today. She let out a long, pained sigh...In anticipation, clearly. But enough about this! Checking the time, Valerie would find it to be a little before six o'clock, which gave her plenty of time to get herself ready.

First things first, brush your teeth to get rid of the morning breath and then take a shower, wash off the grime and dust from sleeping and from the previous day. One problem with that though, Valerie sighed, public bathrooms. The line for the washroom already going past her room as she left through the door, it was probably calmer out of recruitment season, probably should have woken up earlier. Upon taking a second glance, however, Valerie was relieved to find that the washrooms were divided by gender.

Approaching the female bathrooms, she found it to have...No line at all! Wonderful. I guess there were some good sides for women being a minority in some professions. Opening the door and making her way in, Valerie was immediately stopped by a loud, screaming voice which, coupled with her status of having just woken up, was more than enough to make her wince.

"DON'T MOVE." The voice came from a diminutive woman kneeling down on the bathroom floor, her short, curly brown hair was all nicely wrapped up in a bun on the back of her head. Her small, delicate eyes squeezed themselves as they scanned around the bathroom, coupled with the clumsy movements of her hands, which felt up the ground. "I dropped my glasses! You might step on them!"

Valerie glanced over to the sink where this woman had been closest to and saw the pair of glasses neatly placed there, next to the sink tub. Rolling her eyes, the medic waltzed over to the sink, despite the other's protests and desperation, took the glasses and then offered them to the diminutive woman. "Here." She blinked, examining what was being offered to her for a few moments, before then smiling, taking it and putting it on. "Oh, thank you~~" She jolted herself into a standing position, also adjusting her glasses on her face.

"You...We haven't met yet, have we? I'm Molly! Communications Officer! At your service, Ma'am!" Valerie raised a brow at this Molly, then stretched her hand out and shook hands with her. "Valerie. Recruit...Or...Well, will be. Are you the only woman here other than myself...? And Roxie." Molly scratched the back of her head a bit, her brain browsing the information contained in there, shifting through the endless layers of information that were contained within that small hea- "I dunno." Really. "There might be other new female recruits but I haven't bumped into them. Roxie usually ends up using her own bathroom over by her workshop so I hardly ever see her over here."

"I see..." The medic mumbled, before reminding herself of what she came here to do. "Sorry, I'm in a bit of a hurry." And without another word, she went on with washing her face and brushing her teeth. Molly saluted, in a rather comical way, strangely enough, and then excused herself as well. Valerie rushed herself to get her teeth clean, her clothes changed and her mind ready, for whatever intricate and complex exam the Black Egrets first had in mind.

"...An interview, really?" Questioned one of the recruits as they exchanged glances and confused looks. Valerie simply crossed her arms, disappointed. Princess Parasoul tapped her umbrella on the floor of the little stage she had set up, calling everyone's attention once again. "Yes, an interview. The first and most important aspect of being a Black Egret is not raw skill or power, you must have a strong bond to your fellow soldiers and you must be able to get along and work together towards a common goal. As experienced as you may be, it will be for naught if you're the type who likes picking fights with your superiors." The Princess explained, shooting a quick glance towards Valerie as she spoke.

"Oh, goodie, looks like I made a friend." The medic chuckled to herself, before then simply shrugging and deciding to go along with it. The sooner this interview was done with, the better. The several recruits were divided on groups, each was assigned to a specific veteran officer from the Egrets. Adam, Roxie, Molly and some other Egret Valerie hadn't met yet, an enormous man with a tank-like weapon attached to his arm, had their hands full with a bunch of recruits. As she was about to get in line to have an interview with Molly, she found herself having a finger pointed at her face.

"You." Spoke Parasoul. "I will be interviewing you myself." She warned, lowering her hand and then signaling Valerie to follow. The event turned a few curious heads, as it seemed Valerie was the only one the princess was going to talk to. "Awww, am I getting special treatment because I stepped on your toes yesterday?" Teased the medic, to which the princess replied with a stern and steely look. "Shut up. Get in."

Valerie let herself down on the black leather sofa on the room Parasoul led her to. "This...Doesn't look like an interview room."

Parasoul shook her head and replied. "It's not. I don't usually participate in the interviews but I figured I'd make an exception this time around."

Valerie chuckled. "Really now?"

"Really. You do realize, if you really want to join the Egrets, you'll have to convince me that you should be let in. And the situation really doesn't look good for you right now, so you might want to start by apologizing to me about your ill speaking of my family yesterday."

"No. I'm not apologizing. I didn't really say anything bad towards you, anyways. And I only stated facts, as far as I remember." Valerie replied blankly. Parasoul took a deep breath, she pulled over a chair and sat face to face to the bluenette, resting both her hands on her umbrella.

"...Very well then. Let's get this over with so I can send you on your way. Ms. Valerie, why do you want to join the Black Egrets? Surely it's not for patriotism or love for the Royal Family, so, why?"

Valerie chuckled at the last sentence and then, after a brief pause, replied. "Because I want to help people. Simply put."

Parasoul couldn't help but laugh at the response, which caused Valerie to frown, the princess then continued. "I'm sorry, but you're going to have to try a bit harder than that if you want to convince me you're not a bitch."

"Oh." Valerie smiled, quickly puzzling together her next sentence before shooting out. "But I am a bitch. And once I do join the Egrets, I'm gonna make sure to remind you every single day of every single mistake that your parents made. Not because I'm trying to get under your skin, but because I want to be sure, you won't be making them yourself."

"I can take care of my myself, thank you v-"

"No, you can't. You're eighteen, you're ruling an entire kingdom and leading an armed military force, even though you have never been at a real fight."

"I have been trained to fight ever since I was born, how dare you-"

"A. Real. Fight. It's one thing to fence with your father's hired instructor who would do his best to please not only you but also your father. Congratulating you for every little progress and reminding you of how much potential you have and how much you've improved, every time you fail. In a real fight, if you fail, you die."

"You talk as if you're some kind of war veteran, yet, your "experience" restricts itself to bandaging up the wounded soldiers so they could go back to fighting for your sake."

"You mean fighting for your father's sake, yes? Out of all the Canopians I took care of, I don't think any of them, while they were laying in beds and bleeding out to death, none of them wanted to go back into the war zone. They weren't fighting for my sake, they weren't even fighting for their own sake, a lot of the soldiers I helped didn't even know why they were fighting anymore, both Canopians and not."

"You...Wait. What side were you on?"

"I wasn't on anyone's side! Me and a few other doctors set up a small clinic in No Man's Land, the three kingdoms little playground and we tried to patch up whoever came to us and needed help."

"That's...Commendable of you. Very noble."

"Oh, now you're complimenting me? I'm not done. Do you know what this is?" As Valerie spoke, she pulled out from her pocket a bullet, spent and twisted around, rust starting to take over it. "Do you know what this is?" The medic questioned, handing it over to Parasoul.

The princess examined the casing for a moment, scanning through her studies of Canopian weaponry that she had gone through. "Rifle bullet. Special ammo developed by the Anti-Skullgirls labs before my father shut them down...Meant for shooting down the Skullgirl's undead minions, the big ones."

"This was being used against the Gigans. I pulled one of these out of a Gigan's chest, he lived, surprisingly."

"Do you keep everything you pull out of your patients, Doctor Valerie?"

"Not always. I like keeping mementos of important moments or people in my life. It's...It keeps you from forgetting what are your objectives in life."

"And what does that bullet mean to you, exactly? That in times of war, people use what they can? You need a memento for that?"

"No." Valerie replied, snatching the bullet back. "When our little clinic started turning famous and people found out we were healing not only Canopians but also Rooks and Gigans, well, a lot of people weren't exactly happy about it. So one of the officers under your father's command decided to send a small unit to set us on the right way."

"...So that's why you hate my family. Well, I assure you we would've never have-"

"I'm not done. We refused, figuring we'd stand up and the soldiers would just back off, listen to their conscience. I saw my colleagues get shot and executed in front of me and I would've died with them. Weren't it for the fact that, the Gigan I took this bullet out of woke up and had something to say about how the soldiers were treating his doctors."

"...I humbly apologize for the atrocities you went through on my father's war. If you feel so strongly about it, however, I don't think you'd be appropriate for the Egrets. Perhaps the Rooks or the Gigans themselves might be more welcoming to you, however, I can try to write a letter of recommendation, if you'd like."

"Oh no, don't get me wrong, I'm pretty sure the Gigans and the Rooks have done as horrible things themselves, if I cared about that I wouldn't be trying to join any of you. War is war, after all."

"Then why...?"

"I saw people kill each other, that was bad. But nothing prepared me for what came after that."

"...My mother."

"The Skullgirl, yes. It's one thing to kill someone who might have friends, family or loved ones. Killing them and then bringing their corpse back to life, so they could kill their own friends though, that's monstrous. It's no wonder all the Three Kingdoms stopped their bickering and focused on the bigger threat."

"She was manipulated by the Skullheart, her wish corrupted, as many others have been."

"But none as bad as hers. She nearly wiped out the three Kingdoms, if she hadn't been stopped, the wasteland that is No Man's Land would stretch itself all over the continent."

"So your point with all this is...?"

Valerie put the bullet back in her pocket. "I'm not here to fight for you. If you put yourself into some dumb war with the Gigans or the Rooks, I'll let you know right now, I'm deserting. I'm here to fight the Skullgirl menace. The Gigans would never take me and they would never trust me because I'm not one of them. The Rooks may have their golems, but they're for the most part really behind on the whole technology and science department, which happens to be where I'm good at. The Black Egrets, however, have taken a vow to fight with their lives to protect the people against the Skullgirls, and you have great technology and resources for that, even though your father closed the Anti-Skullgirl labs. So that, is why I want to join the Egrets."

The Princess was quiet for a long time, in thought, her eyes locked with Valerie's and they both seemed to stare each other down for what felt like an eternity. Finally, Parasoul got up from her sitting position and spoke up. "Very well then. You may return to your room...And...We'll let you know the results after lunch." And without another word, Parasoul opened the door for Valerie to leave. The medic continued to stare at Parasoul for a bit, before finally getting up and leaving.

After having gotten her lunch, Valerie was back in her room. She glanced over at her open luggage and sighed. "That could have gone worse...But it could have gone better. Not the best job interview I've ever had, honestly, most of them don't want end up with the interviewer wanting to jab me in the face...Most of them." She mumbled to herself, closing her luggage. "Maybe the Rooks will take me...I mean, they don't really have that many resources but...Well, maybe I can convince them to care a bit, hopefully." As she was about to lift up her luggage, she heard a knock on the door.

"Yeah?" Valerie questioned, opening the door, staring down at Molly on the other side, the small woman had an energetic smile on her face, as it seemed to be her usual. Before saying anything, however, Valerie found herself getting a set of clothes held against her chest. "Congratulations, I figured I wouldn't be seeing the last of you on that bathroom! You passed the interview. You're not actually in yet, just so you know, there's still gonna be some training and tests that you'll have to go through. But ah...Yeah. Princess Parasoul approved you. You must feel very lucky, getting interviewed and approved by the Princess herself, eh?"

Valerie blinked a few times, confused as she slowly accepted the set of clothes being handed to her. It was the usual Black Egret uniform, though it lacked the band with the Renoir crest that the full-fledged soldiers had on their arms. "...Thanks, yeah." Molly smiled. "It was hard finding a uniform for your size, small waist, big chest. We decided to give you both pants and a skirt, you can pick whatever you're the most comfortable with. Don't forget to wake up early again tomorrow! You got long days ahead of you! See ya!" And with that, she waltzed off.

Valerie simply stood there, staring at the uniform and then at Molly as she walked away. Blinking a few more times, the medic slowly staggered back into her room and set up the clothing on the bed for her to have a proper look at it. She examined the uniform for a bit and then, after searching around her luggage for a bit, pulled out a small pair of scissors. "If I'm going to wear this...It's going to need a little more...Breathing room." And with that, she'd get to work, she had the rest of the day off to work on this, after all.


	3. Checkmate Incision (Chapter 3)

(This chapter was originally going to be coupled with the next one I'm writing now, but they were getting just WAY too big so I decided to separate them. This is the first part, second part should be coming out sometime soon.)

Knock knock.

It was a late afternoon in the Renoir palace, the Egrets had finished up their training routine earlier and the soldiers had been dismissed to the barracks. Several guests had started arriving for some sort of event that was about to occur. The princess looked up from her desk, fixing her red hair before getting up and unlocking the door of her office. "Yes, how can I-? Ah, it's you."

Valerie nodded from the other side of the door, already dressed up in the full Black Egret uniform...Well, almost full, she was still missing the band around the arm, which she would acquire, eventually...Probably. "...Good day, Highness." The medic replied, glancing around uncomfortably before questioning. "May I come in?"

"Do you HAVE to? I'd rather we talk at the door, if it's not something overly important." The redhead replied, staring up at the woman on the other side of the door. Valerie's pale lips seemed to mull in thought for a few moments before they finally parted open. "You approved me to join the Egrets..."

"I did." Parasoul nodded, her amber orbs locked with the medic's. "Are you here to question my decision?"

"...Something like that." Valerie scratched the back of her head. "You seemed pretty resolute about kicking me out the first chance you got."

The Princess stared at the recruit for a little while longer, pondering her response before she shook her head. "Come in."

Shrugging, Valerie followed the redhead into the office. The room was...Surprisingly tidy, admittedly, one could expect that with all the work that got thrown her way, Parasoul would probably have difficulties finding time to organize herself, this seemed to not be the case, however. A pleasant surprise, pondered Valerie. The medic's scouting of the room was interrupted once Parasoul started talking. "I did, indeed, intend to kick you out as soon as I got the chance."

Parasoul rested her hips against the desk, she spoke in a calm, rigid tone. "But I didn't because, as you were meant to, you convinced me otherwise in your interview." She sighed, then continued. "You said you weren't joining the Egrets to fight for me or for the Canopy Kingdom, but to fight the Skullgirl threat and to protect the people of my Kingdom. I can respect that." Parasoul suddenly frowned. "However, I want you to improve your attitude."

"Aw, am I being too rough on you, Princess?" The medic mocked, chuckling a bit.

"That. That right there is a problem." She huffed. "I've got enough on my plate right now. Ruling the whole kingdom while also leading the Egrets. Even with Adam and the others helping me, it's all still very...Stressful. I don't need you making my day worse."

The medic rubbed her chin a bit in thought. "...Fine. I'll try to tone it down a bit. Seems like my chances depend on it, anyways...So I'll hold my tongue."

"Don't." Parasoul interjected.

"Pardon?"

"It's clear you have a very strong opinion about me and my family...If I am to be a good ruler, I need to be able to take in the critique of both those who support or are against me. This includes your opinion. I don't wish for you to be a silent companion, I merely want you to not antagonize me."

"So I'm your "companion" now, am I?" Valerie chuckled.

"Don't even go there. Yes, you are my companion, ally, comrade, whatever you want to go with. We're still not friends, and I guess I'll make this clear now, but I have no desire whatsoever to be your friend."

"Really? Up until now you seemed so eager to get along."

"You're competent, as far as it seems. And the Black Egrets need more officers with medical training, so you're...Useful. But." Parasoul stepped forward, being only slightly shorter than the medic, she didn't have much trouble to stare the woman face to face. "I don't take kindly to those who speak ill of my family. I am open to critique, but not to insults." The princess's tone was carefully controlled, feeling like she was about to get punched, Valerie backed off a bit before Parasoul then continued. "So don't try my patience. Don't mock me. And, most important of all, if you ever question me or attempt to humiliate me in front of someone else like you did when we met, I'll have Panzerfaust throw you out the palace. Are we clear?"

Valerie heard quietly and, once Parasoul was done, she laughed and nodded. "Yeah, clear. A request though, don't try to threaten me."

"It's not a threat...It's a warning. Enough about this, I have a work to finish and a party to get ready for. You're dismissed."

Valerie blinked upon the "party" part, was it something to do with the Egrets...? Probably had more to do with her royal duties, actually. The medic shrugged, figuring she was done bothering the Princess for today, she headed back to the barracks.

On her way back, she happened upon Adam, wearing a gray tuxedo, fixing his tie on his neck. "Oh, evening...Recruit...Valerie, was it?" The bluenette nodded at the gray-haired young man, he looked good, admittedly. Then again, it's hard to not look good in high-class social wear, that's what it's made for, after all. "You going to this party? I didn't know the soldiers were invited to participate in these kinds of meetings."

Adam fixed up his tie and then smiled shot a smile at Valerie. "Well, we need to keep a close eye on the Princess in case anything happens. We're not allowed to drink, but we're allowed to participate...If, we have the desire and proper outfit for it, of course." The medic crossed her arms.

"I see, so you get to hang-out with the rich folk as long as you babysit Princess Parasoul on the side."

Adam shook his head. "Oh no, Princess Parasoul can handle herself. We usually need to be more careful with Princess Umbrella, her little sister. Quite the troublemaker, that one, even though she's so young."

Valerie nodded, taking a mental note to remember that Parasoul had a little baby sister next time. "Will you be participating, Recruit Valerie?" The medic snapped out of her thoughts with the question, she scratched the back of her head a bit before finally replying. "Uh, well, I do have a dress. I guess I could, if I wanted to. Though, I'm not sure the Princess would be very happy to see me there."

Adam shrugged. "Well, you just have to...Not get in trouble with anyone, that's not hard, is it?"

"It tends to be, for me."

"So I've heard. Well, the choice is yours. I need to get going now, if you'll excuse me." And with that, the Egret Officer marched his way over to the palace, leaving Valerie to think about whether she should participate or not. She carefully considered her options, until she found herself bumping into someone carrying a bunch of tools on a box, as both staggered backwards, the figure carrying the box snarled out. "Hey! Watch where you're going, airhead!"

The voice was oddly familiar to Valerie, she was in thought for a bit, before then, with a glance to the person's face, the memory returned in a jolt. "Ah, Roxie. Nice to see you too. I never thanked you for helping the other d-"

"Don't thank me, I regret it already. Were you stepping on the Princess's toes today too?"

"How loyal of you to get mad at me for bothering her. Do you always bark at anyone who speaks like that to her or did she offer you a treat if you got under my skin?"

"Watch it, you asshole. I may be the mechanic but I'm still your superior, I've been here much longer than you and you ought to treat me with respect."

Valerie shrugged. "Everyone expects my respect, but no one actually tries to earn it, you're all so rude."

"That's how it works around here, recruit, get used to it."

"I'll pass. Will you be with the Princess in the party soon?"

"Hah! And do what, drink wine and play chess with those fancy pants? That one's not really my type of party, I'll pass. I'll be spending my night fixing and cleaning the trucks, one of the rookies managed to crash one of them into the others."

"...What was that about chess?" The medic questioned, her eyes lighting up with glee, her head tilting to the side curiously.

"Eh? The Princess likes playing chess with the guests, it's her way of passing time among the boring folk, I believe."

"...That so? Maybe I'll come by and go against her, that would be fun."

Roxie laughed off. "Yeah, good luck with that, Adam says she's unbeatable. At any rate, I've wasted enough time with you here. I have work to do and you've taken enough of my time. Catch you later." And without further ado, the mechanic stomped off on her way, leaving the medic there to ponder.

"...Unbeatable, huh?"

A few hours later, the party itself had finally started, within the great atrium of the Glass Canopy, the Renoir's palace grand hall. True to its name, a giant parasol-shaped canopy of glass allowed the night sky to shine down it's moonlight on the ballroom below, where the members of Canopy Kingdom's elite mingled and chatted, enjoying fine wine and their company. The ballroom itself was lit up with golden lights, the red banners of the Renoirs hanged down from the walls and, alongside with the red carpets, gave the whole atrium a warm and comforting feeling.

Tables spread all around held food and drink for the guests. A particular figure stood out from the rest, mostly because of his sheer size in comparison to everyone else. Panzerfaust, the Black Egret's super soldier, was in there, wearing a tuxedo which wondrously managed to contain the soldier's frame. His wrist tank was detached and zipped around the ballroom, carrying drinks to the guests while Panzerfaust controlled the thing from afar like a toy car. It was interesting to see this man outside of his uniform, from what she had heard from the other soldiers, Panzerfaust was one of the last experiments of the Anti-Skullgirls labs before they were shut down, Lab 3, more specifically.

As Valerie wandered around the party, wearing a lacy black dress, coupled with black heels, she idly glanced around to see if anyone was looking before getting herself some of the wine that was being served on the party. One single drink wouldn't do any bad now, would it? It's not like she was a fully fledged out Egret, anyways, so she might as well enjoy herself. Glancing once more at Panzerfaust, she found her mind wandering towards the Anti-Skullgirls labs that Parasoul's father had set up. They were eight labs in total, Labs one and two were focused on research, Lab three was focused on super soldier development, Lab four specialized in Handheld Weapon and Vehicle development, Lab five, specialized weapons. Lab six was dedicated to studying Theonite, the magical resource which was used to create living weapons...It also had something to do with the famed Parasites.

Ah yes, Parasites, I never touched upon that with you, did I? They are defined as creatures that bond to a person's body, providing augments to their "host". Despite the name, they appear to form a symbiosis with their host, drawing nutrients from their bodies in exchange for acting as a means of enhancing their host's combat capabilities. All over the Canopy Kingdom, carrying a parasite was seen as some kind of taboo, like something that would make you a monster to be hated or feared. Valerie herself was quite fascinated by them, despite having no interest to wield one herself. Back to the labs.

Lab seven focused on Medical and Drug Research, oh what would she do to have been able to join that lab while it was still operational, all the resources and discoveries that were lost when that was shut down...Oh yeah and there was also Lab eight, focused on the creation of synthetic parasites. Valerie was zipped back to reality as she met up with Adam, who escorted a small toddler by the hand. "So, you did show up after all. This is Princess Umbrella, say hello, dear."

Valerie lowered herself slightly to greet the young princess, the young girl had a puffy yellow dress on which matched nicely with her short, pink hair. "Why, hello there, I'm Valer-" The medic was cut off as she felt a small stubby finger prodding against the skin of her chest, she backed off, heat flowing through her face all of a sudden. "H-hey!"

Adam frowned, scratching the back of his head. "...Yeah, she does that. It means she likes you though...I think. She does it to her sister too. Might be just because the two of you have...Uh..."

"...Have what?"

"Nevermind. Come on, Princess Umbrella, I heard they're serving desserts right now. You like desserts, right?"

"Deserts!" Announced the infant with a happy flail.

"N-No...DeSSerts, there's a "sss" sound, you know, like a snake?"

"Desssurts?"

"Close enough."

Valerie had calmed down a bit from the molestation, then questioned. "Where is Princess Parasoul?"

"Why do you want to know?" Adam questioned suspiciously. "You don't need to watch over her, me and Panzerfaust can handle it."

"How rude. I just heard she hosted chess games with the guests, figured I'd try."

"Oh, I see. She's by the fountain, look for the crown, you can't miss it. Come now, Princess Umbrella."

And with that, Valerie said her goodbyes to Adam and the diminutive princess, before then turning her attention to the fountain, scanning around until she spotted Parasoul's crown amidst all of the people. The older Princess sat by the fountain, the light reflected off the fountain and shined down on her majestic presence, her crown shimmering as the light gleamed out of each of the trinity symbols that it carried. Her hair tied up gracefully behind her head, her clear and clean pale skin, her royal dress, a mixture of blues and reds, Renoir motifs, her amber eyes, red hair, red lips.

Valerie cleared her throat. With careful steps, she approached the table where the Princess had been receiving her chess opponents, just as the medic approached, Parasoul had acquired seemingly another victory against a young girl with purple hair and a seductive purple dress, she sighed with the defeat. Parasoul chuckled. "Better luck next time, Miss...Zone, was it?"

The purple haired girl mumbled a few annoyed insults and simply went on her way. As Valerie took her place, Parasoul's smile suddenly fell into a frown. "What are you doing here?"

Valerie smiled, starting to set up the chess pieces for herself and Parasoul. "What? I am allowed to join the party, am I not?"

"...Very well. You'll have to forgive me though, but I'm not interested in teaching you the rules of chess-"

"Won't be necessary, Princess. I know how to play, quite well, in fact." Valerie took the white King of her board and set it aside, taking another white King and setting it in it's place.

Parasoul simply stared. "...Another memento of yours, I'm guessing?"

"I got it from a Rook I played chess with back in the War. Consider it a lucky charm, you don't mind, right?"

"Certainly not, I'm sure you could use the help."

Valerie licked her teeth and lightly bit her tongue. "...Right. Well, let's get on with it, shall we?"

Parasoul shrugged. "Fair enough, as per usual, white goes first, so go on ahead, Miss Valerie."

Valerie thought for a bit then began, moving a pawn forward.

"...So, how often do you play? Only with the nobles at these parties, I'm guessing?"

Parasoul distractedly made her own moves, expecting this to be a quick game. "It's a little fun time I get to myself. Defeating others with logic and careful planning is a rather enjoyable way of spending time, after all."

The medic smirked. "Oh, I couldn't agree more. I find games of chess to be a lot like..."

Parasoul moved another pawn forward. "Like a swordfight? I heard that expression before, you must think first before you move-"

"Actually, I was going to say it's a lot like...Flirting." She moved a bishop around.

"...Flirting? What does chess have to do with flirting?"

"You first make a move...Wait to see how the other person reacts. Then, if your original move works...You press further on and try to see how far you can take it. If not, you back off and try a different approach." Valerie was quiet for a bit, staring at the board, grabbing a knight and taking Parasoul's bishop. "Check."

The Princess's eye shot open for a moment when she realized she had been careless enough to let herself get into this position. She squinted her eyes, scanning around the board before biting her lower lip and moving her Queen to defend her King.

Valerie smirked. "You seem a bit tense, Princess. Something the matter? You stopped talking...Bishop takes Queen. Checkmate."

Parasoul's eye darted around the board, it couldn't be, there must have been something she missed. Maybe a bishop here or...No. The rooks were...Far away and... "Damn it." She cursed under her breath. "Best of three."

The medic chuckled. "So competitive~~ Fine fine, I'll humor you." She replied, starting to organize her pieces back into place. Parasoul did the same, angrily smacking the pieces back onto their spots before the game began anew. Once the pieces were back in place, she announced. "...White goes first."

The bluenette began once more, sending a pawn forward. "Are we seriously going to play quietly? I'd rather talk, would you not?"

Parasoul made her move, then, after staring in silence at Valerie for a bit, replied. "Like flirting, huh? You must have a hard time getting dates if this is how you flirt."

"Well, your Majesty, I prefer to focus my time on intellectual pursuits rather than romantic ones, what about yourself? I wager the young gentlemen of Canopy try to woo you constantly, especially with your status? I get the feeling Adam likes you as well, if that's your thing." Valerie questioned, idly pushing a piece forward as she spoke.

"Rook takes bishop. Don't offend my intelligence, Miss Valerie, I don't fall for the same trick twice, now let's see if you're a one trick pony, shall we?"

Valerie gritted her teeth, she probably shouldn't have been so arrogant as to assume the same strategy would work twice, this put her in a bit of a pinch, however, as she found herself without a bishop and with an open line to her King. "...I can handle myself." She mumbled, moving her knight along to try and fix the hole in her defenses.

"In regards to your question," Parasoul resumed, taking her own turn. "They have, from time to time...I'm not really interested in...How should I put it? Their boy games. I've got bigger fish to catch, you see. And Adam...Adam is...A good man, but uh...No."

Valerie managed to chuckle at the response, before then sending a rook forward. "Sounds about right...I didn't picture you for the passionate type, anyways."

Parasoul tilted her head lightly to the side, frowning. "I can be rather passionate...About my kingdom and my family. Outside of that, however, a ruler must keep their cool at all times. They must remain firm, precise and cool. But, when necessary, be rough, strong and decisive. Check." She announced, capturing Valerie's rook with her Queen, also positioning it to take the King.

The medic let out a short 'uh' as she considered her options, none of which seemed like they would help much. "...Queen takes Rook." She suddenly announced.

Parasoul raised a brow. "What's the matter, I thought you were the one who liked talking? Queen takes Queen. Check."

The bluenette huffed. "Shit." She mumbled, being forced to move her King.

Parasoul shrugged, moving her other Rook over. "Checkmate. How disappointing, Miss Valerie, after your initial victory, I was hoping you'd prove to be a more interesting challenge than that."

The blue haired woman grinned. "Best out three, remember? Let's go for the tie breaker."

As Parasoul and Valerie set up the pieces once again, the other guests in line for the chess game began to leave and find other things to occupy themselves with. Valerie and Parasoul remained focused on their game, however. A soldier came over to speak to Parasoul. "Uhm, Princess, I'm sorry to interrupt, but some of our guests will be leaving soon, as the host, you should come and tell them goodbye."

Parasoul nodded, dismissing the soldier. "Yes yes, I'll be there in a few minutes."

"So." Began the bluehead. "I believe we were talking your sex life."

"We weren't."

"We are now. Unless, of course, you never..."

Parasoul took a deep breath and, after Valerie, made her first move. "Have you already forgotten what I told you about trying to hum-"

"Oh, don't get me wrong, Princess. I'm not doing this to embarrass you." The medic smiled, seeing her little game was having an effect on Parasoul, hopefully enough to give her an edge on this game. It was a bit of a cheap tactic, sure, but...Well, chess was a mind game, was it not? Trying to sidetrack your opponent is part of the challenge, no? "I'm just having a nice little chat."

Parasoul furrowed her brow, slamming a pawn forward. "I haven't. I always had...More important things to do. Training, ruling a kingdom, leading the Egrets, social meetings...I never had time for...Such trivialities. Since you seem to be the kind to indulge yourself in such things, however, I'm guessing you're much more experience in the area?"

"...You trying to imply something lewd, Princess? Eh...I have, actually." Valerie admitted nonchalantly. "It just kind of happened, honestly. And it's kind of...Meh. I feel like people set up too many expectations for it...Maybe that or maybe I was just never that into it to start with." She pushed a bishop out, seemingly going for the same tactic a third time.

"Is that so, Miss Valerie? Well, that's a shame to hear." The Princess mumbled in reply, already adjusting her knight to capture that bishop yet again.

"Doing it with another girl was slightly more fun though...Knight takes Knight."

Parasoul was doubly shocked. Once for what she said, the second for the chess move. "H-Hah! You're definitely very open about your...Tendencies, huh?" The Princess was in thought for a bit, but then set herself back into action. "Pawn takes Knight."

"I don't really have a tendency, I just go with the flow. Like I said though, I was really disappointed with how that stuff went." She mumbled with a shrug.

"And how much experience did you get with these, I wonder?"

"Enough to be sure."

The game continued on for quite a while, but suddenly Valerie and Parasoul found themselves at a bit of a...Pickle. Both were left with only a bishop and their king. "Well, Your Majesty, I guess this is a tie, isn't it?"

The princess bit her lower lip, frustrated, trying to find a way to win but...No, nothing. "...Fair enough, I agree to a tie."

The two stared at each other for a long pause, Val broke the silence. "...Another tie breaker?"

"Sure."

The Egret from earlier returned. "Princess, the guests-"

Parasoul cut him off. "Tell Adam to take care of them, I'm busy."

The soldier awkwardly stood there for a bit. "Erh...But-"

"That was an order, soldier."

The Egret sighed, saluted and went off to warn Adam about his new assignment. As Parasoul turned her attention back to the game, Valerie chuckled. "My my, Princess, I think you're a bit too into this game."

"Shut up. Play."

"All right, all right...So, what were we talking about again?"

Two hours and a fair amount of chess games later.

"And I win...The best...Out of twenty..." Parasoul huffed, cold sweat running down her temples, she had took the crown out of her head somewhere down the line and now her hair was back to running down her shoulders. Valerie herself was a bit beat up as well, her eyes twitched to stay open, her tongue hurt, because of all the talking she had been doing, of course, and her mind was currently drawing blanks on what else to talk about, which also explained her decline in victories on the past few games, despite her distractions being substituted by the Princess's own exhaustion.

"I'm done." The medic announced, waving her arms around. "Me too." Parasoul dropped her head back. "I wonder if there's anyone else still...Around..." She glanced around the empty atrium, currently only occupied by herself and Valerie. "Guess not." As Parasoul went to get up, she let out a pained groan and glanced down at her feet. "Freaking...Heels."

"Way ahead of you." Valerie chuckled, holding her own heels in her hand. "Not like there's anyone around to criticize the lack of shoes, is there?" Parasoul was in thought for a bit, but then removed her own shoe wear as well. "...Point taken. So...I guess I ought to go to my room and you should head back to the barracks, no?"

Valerie shrugged. "I guess. Though, my throat is kind of dry, I'd rather get something to drink first but I think all the food was already taken away." She whined, glancing around the room. Parasoul scanned around as well and, after being in thought for a few seconds. "Well, just follow me to my room, I'll get you something...Consider it a consolation prize, for your defeat." She teased, chuckling a bit.

The bluehead rolled her eyes and stretched her arms out a bit. "Inviting me to your room, are you, Princess? Is that really professional of you?"

"Okay, fine, I retra-"

"I was joking, just joking...I'll accept the offer, is your room far away?"

"Not by much, it's- Wait, you've been to my room."

"What? No I've been to your office...Is your room, your office? I didn't see any beds there."

"I sleep on the couch."

Valerie blinked a few times at the response, to which Parasoul simply shrugged. The Princess walked off ahead and the medic followed, quietly, they made their way to Parasoul's office. Once inside, the Princess opened up a small fridge hidden behind her sofa and pulled out a bottle of wine, already opened, but corked up. "This will do, yes? Mind finishing it off with me?"

"I'm more of a whiskey person...Or sake, but sure, I'll take wine." Parasoul nodded and served up two cups for herself and her guest, sitting herself down on the sofa with Valerie sitting on the other end. The two started drinking but then simply awkwardly stared at each other, then proceeding to glance around the room. Valerie scouted around the room's decoration and then attempted to break up the ice. "So uh...You seem to collect fencing swords?"

Parasoul smiled and nodded. "I do. I don't really use them anymore since I received Krieg, my living weapon, from my father but...I always had a huge fascination for fencing, it's graceful, yet firm and deadly." She sipped her wine. "I like to think I'm the same, what about yourself, do you collect anything? Aside from mementos, I mean."

Valerie scratched the back of her head. "...Yeah, I used to collect stuff from...The east."

Parasoul raised a brow questioningly. "...The east?"

"You know...Samurai, ninjas, geishas and that kind of stuff." Valerie seemed to be getting a bit worked up. "I just always found eastern culture so fascinating, everything there is so beautiful, but at the same time so filled with intrigue and mystery. It carries an aura of...Power and mysticism."

"...So, you're saying you like those mangas and anime stuff too?"

"I guess. My true passion lies in their actual culture, it's simply so...Fascinating."

"...Right. So you don't watch any shows or anything?"

"What are you getting at?"

"N-Nevermind."

Valerie blinked confusedly, Parasoul scratched the back of her head nervously.

"Okay?" The medic mumbled, glancing around the office, she got up and started walking around the place. "Anyways, I thought you said you didn't want me as your friend at all?"

Parasoul frowned, dropping her head slightly before replying. "Yeah well...I just...This doesn't make us friends. I just figured I'd give you the benefit of the doubt that you're not a total hassle and can actually be enjoyable company."

The bluehead continued to browse around Parasoul's things, until she then happened upon something, a VHS case for the first episode of...Annie: Girl of the Stars. "...Isn't this that kid's show about that girl who hunted Skullgirls?" The Princess jolted off her chair and snatched the case out of Valerie's hands. "That's...My sister's."

"...Then why is it in your office?"

"She...Dropped it here and I was keeping it."

"She was walking around with a video tape...Then dropped it. In your office, really? Isn't she like...One year old?"

"I don't question why you walk around with random things you picked up here and there, don't question the things you find in my office."

"They're not random things, they're mementos, they hold sentimental value. And what does that have to do with you watching a child's show?"

"I told you already this is Umbrella's!"

Valerie wandered off and started searching around Parasoul's office, much to the princess's panic. "W-What are you doing, stop it!"

"Oh, just trying to find out what else Umbrella "forgot" in here."

"Okay! That's enough! You got your drink, now out! Out! I'm done with your attempts to embarrass me."

"Well, excuuuuse me, Princess, that's not a proper way to be treating your guests."

"That's why I'm asking you to leave, Miss Valerie."

The medic stared at Parasoul for a short while, then slowly cracked a smile. "Call me Val."

"Excuse me?"

"Just call me Val, no need to be calling me Miss Valerie or even Valerie, it's a pretty long name, after all."

"...Do I have to?"

"I just figured you'd prefer to."

"I'll call you nicknames if I feel like it, Miss Valerie."

The doctor shrugged, so much for actually getting through, seems like the Princess was back to her usual steely and cold self. "Fine fine...I'll be going then, Princess." Valerie concluded, heading for the door.

"Y-You're actually leaving then?"

"Well, that's what you wanted, right? I'll see you tomorrow.

"...Very well, until then tomorrow then...Val."

Valerie chuckled at the farewell and, with a nod, removed herself from the room, heading back into the hallway, her cold feet tapping against the floor as she- Oh, right, the heels. Valerie rolled her eyes and turned around, heading back to Parasoul's room, she knocked a few times. Then waited for the redhead to answer, as the door slowly creaked open, Valerie started. "Yo, Princess, I think I forgot my-"

Before the sentence had been finished, Parasoul lunged forward and their lips locked. A sudden warmth flushed through the medic's body...No, nevermind, just her face, as she felt her fingers and her feet being ice cold. Her whole body grew quiet for a second, her heart thumping, faster with each second that the kiss was kept, she had tilted her head back when they started, but now slowly pressed herself against the royal lips. The aroma of the royal perfume wafted through her being. She felt Parasoul's light breathing against hers, Valerie's whole body was paralyzed, shocked, frozen on the outside, though right now, her insides melted and mellowed. Once the medic finally broke free of her short stagger, she moved her hands to wrap around the Princess's waist.

But just as soon as she did that, the kiss was broken and Parasoul pushed Valerie's hands away, as both of them slowly opened their eyes and the warm colors of their pools continued the kiss from a distance.

"...Shoes." Valerie finally completed, still registering what had just happened, the warmth of her body finally starting to balance itself out again, though her heart was now beating faster than ever before, short spasms of emotion twitched through her legs and arms, as if wanting to pull the Princess back to continue.

Parasoul took the shoes and placed them against Valerie's chest, the medic took them, by reflex. "Good night, Miss Valerie." Were the Princess's last words before she then closed the door. The medic stood there, staring at the wood separating her and the princess, holding her heels tightly in her hand. Valerie's breathing was ragged and uneven, but it slowly calmed itself down, her body shook slightly...With the cold from the palace, clearly. What a mess, not having interior heating in such a big palace, truly, a shame.

The bluehead remained in place a little while longer...Then knocked on the door again.

"Go to sleep." Replied, sternly, the voice from within.

Valerie shook her head and nodded, despite Parasoul not being able to see it anyways and then headed off on her way back to the barracks.


	4. Countervenom (Chapter 4)

((Sorry for the wait, folks! Here is Chapter 4. I had gotten rather busy with the end of the Semester but now I should be able to update a lot faster now that I got more free time.))

How long has it been since Valerie's been trying to get into the Egrets now? Semesters? Years? Maybe even decades? She was actually nearing the end of her first month. Despite it arguably feeling like it lasted a lot longer than that. The training had been going relatively well, she had been distinguishing herself, from amongst the other recruits, at least. She was having a rather easy time with combat training and her medical abilities had already more than been proven to the other Egrets. In fact, for all intents and purposes, Valerie was pretty much already the Egret's medic, this just hadn't been made official yet.

There were more important things to deal with though...Namely, Valerie had to figure out what was going on after all between her and Parasoul. After that little...Event...Following the ball, the medic hadn't been able to get a proper one on one conversation with the Princess. And she too, didn't appear to even want to have one...In fact, Valerie was pretty sure she was being avoided, why though, no idea.

"Ow ow ow Doc, watch what you're doing!" Roxie grumbled out as Valerie distractedly put gauzes around the mechanic's arm. Val snapped back to reality and shrugged, finishing up her bandaging. "There, all done. Be sure to switch the gauze everyday...And please try not to burn yourself again."

"Tch, yeah right, totally meant to burn myself, you know- OW!" Valerie squeezed the area a bit, assuring the gauze was properly fitted, of course. "Please don't try to sass me." The mechanic grumbled, shook her head and simply got up, stretching her arms a bit before she then went on her way, she stopped by the door. "Oh yeah, Doc, Princess Parasoul wanted to talk to you."

"...Did she now? She could have called me herself." Roxie shrugged her shoulders. "But she didn't, regardless, you should go see what she wants, don't keep the princess waiting." Valerie chuckled. "Oh I wouldn't dream of it."

The two women exchanged angry stares for a bit, but then Roxie went back to her own work. The doctor put away her things and, with a tinge of worry, went to see Princess Parasoul.

A short walk later, Valerie found herself in front of Parasoul's door and...Heh, some memories this place brought up. The doctor knocked happily and then waited for Parasoul to answer, she licked her lips a bit and waited, smile on her face. The princess's voice echoed from within the room, calm and...Cold. "The door is open, come in."

The doctor took a deep breath and went in the office, glancing at Parasoul within, who dutifully filled out some papers on her desk. The Princess stopped upon noticing Valerie and shot a smile. "Ah, it's you...Hello."

"Should I leave and then knock on the door again? That way you can-"

"Sit down."

Valerie blinked a few times and then, with a shrug, went to sit on the opposite of the desk, facing Parasoul.

"...Am I in trouble?"

"Not exactly." Parasoul slowly rested her face against the palm of her hand. "This is all a bit...Awkward to me."

Valerie let out a sigh of relief, before then replying. "Well it's only awkward if you make it awkward now, don't you think?" The doctor shot a smile, before continuing. "You don't need to think too much about it-"

"That's not what I called you here for, however."

"Then...What for?"

"Have you been wandering about the Palace during the night?"

"What a weird question...Did someone catch me while I was skulking around to watch you sleep?"

"This is serious, Miss Valerie."

"I liked it better when you called me Val. Anyways, no, I haven't. Why do you ask?"

Parasoul seemed to be in thought for a few moments, she leaned her head forward and joined her hands, before then slowly resting her face against it. She was silent and with her eyes closed for a few moments, before her amber eyes slowly opened up. "We've had some suspicious sights occur around the palace. A woman, supposedly. Seeing as she's managed to slip past our security, we have been taken to think that she's one of the new recruits. We were going to try and deal with this a bit more delicately but...Well, she wounded Adam last night, so I've decided to take some...Precautions."

Valerie was quiet and in thought for a bit, but then interjected. "Well, you should send him over to me right away then, though I'm pretty sure I'm the only female recruit around...Wait, you don't suspect me, do you?"

Parasoul nodded. "I do, you are our main suspect and we will be taking you into custody. Seize her."

Before Valerie could even get up from her chair, she felt both her arms being grabbed from behind by Egret soldiers and then pulled to her back. "Ow! Hey! What the hell?" She snarled, staring right towards Parasoul. "You've got to be kidding me. Drop this shit right now, Parasoul."

"Princess Parasoul. And I'm afraid not, we will be keeping you in a containment cell tonight while we investigate things further...Also, we'll have a few questions for you."

Valerie's red eyes locked with Parasoul's amber pools as she spoke back. "You're wasting your time then...Princess."

"Enough. Egrets, get her to the Interrogation room, immediately."

"Yessir!"

A short escort later, Valerie found herself being put in a small operating room with no one else save for herself, Parasoul and two Egret soldiers. The doctor had her hands cuffed behind her back and lazily sat against the wall, glaring up at the Princess. The redhead took a deep breath and turned to the soldiers. "If you don't mind, I'd like to have a word with the prisoner...In private."

"Yessir."

As the soldiers went elsewhere, Parasoul's focus slowly shifted back to Valerie. Before the princess could say anything, Valerie spoke up first.

"If you're going to be interrogating me, I'll cut to the chase. Wasn't me. I don't know anything. If there are any further ques-"

"I know it wasn't you."

"...What?"

Parasoul rolled her eyes. "Well, I don't believe it was you, at least. But I couldn't tell the Egrets not to jail you on my beliefs alone, now could I?"

Valerie raised a brow, still seemingly a bit suspicious, she adjusted her sitting position. "...Right...So, what's the plan?"

"You stay here while me and the Egrets keep investigating who the real spy is. Since it's not you, she'll probably still be skulking around tonight...Once the other Egrets see that, we can let you out and you'll join the search, too."

"What about Adam?"

"I was getting there. Since you're the most qualified person around to deal with this, we'll be bringing him over for you to take care of him...Under surveillance, of course."

"All right, when is he coming over?"

"Immediately. His wounds were quite...Severe. We just didn't bring him to you earlier because of our suspicions."

"I take it that's why I was brought here and not to a jail cell...Well, not complaining. Can I get these cuffs off now?"

Parasoul rubbed her chin in thought. "Once Adam arrives, you'll probably be doing the operation while being watched too."

"Do I really? I'm not really a fan of crowds."

"Well, you'll have to deal with it."

A knock the door announced Adam's arrival, Parasoul's expression went colder almost immediately as she turned to have a look at her Officer. The two Egret soldiers carefully brought their Officer in, Adam laying safely on a hammock. Slowly, but surely, he was put on the operating table for Valerie to have a good look at him.

"...Well, shit."

Valerie mumbled, her eyes scanning around Adam's state. His whole upper torso was covered in...Scalpels. Two were buried in his chest and one was a little more below, close his stomach and, finally, one in his right shoulder. The Egrets themselves seemed to have dealt with the worst of it on their own, he wasn't bleeding, not profusely at least. The scalpels were kept in place for now, as they should have been. Still, it seemed like Adam had been very lucky, most people would be dead by now...But either by sheer luck or by his attacker's mercy, the scalpels had missed any important blood vessels or organs.

Once her handcuffs were removed, Valerie found her work to actually be...Rather simple. Seeing as most of the damage had already been averted by Adam himself, it was simply a matter of properly cleaning up the wounds, removing the scalpels and then bandaging things up. Putting on a medical mask and rubber gloves for hygiene's sake, she mumbled, as she pulled out the scalpels. "Who uses scalpels as throwing knives, anyways? That just sounds so...Impractical."

Once that was out of the way, and all of Adam's wounds were cleaned up and bandaged, Valerie slowly removed her gloves and went to have a look at the scalpels she pulled out of Adam. Parasoul approached, much to the Egrets's panic.

"Princess! Watch out, she's-"

"I'm fine. Miss Valerie, thank you for assisting Adam. We shall be taking you to a cell until we finish our investigation-"

"Yeah yeah. Just one thing I think you should know though. These scalpels...They're not the same ones we have here."

"How can you be so sure of that?"

Valerie grabbed one of her own scalpels and held it side by side with one she had pulled out of Adam.

"The scalpels Adam got thrown at him aren't actually medical scalpels used for operation. Their handles are longer as well as their blades...These scalpels were made with the intent to be used as weapons."

Parasoul's expression went grim for a second, as a memory seemed to hit her. "...A medical tool as a weapon. Could it be that...?"

"...If there's anything you'd like to share, might as well spill it, Princess."

Parasoul glanced at Valerie, then at the Egrets, who also stared confusedly. "...Egrets. Assemble my Officers and tell them we'll have a meeting in my room within the hour." She signalled Valerie. "You'll be coming too, let's go."

The egrets interjected. "But Princess-"

"She's not the one responsible, I'll deliver a public explanation later."

"...Yessir."

Valerie quickly picked up her pace as she walked beside Parasoul, both heading for the Princess's office. "...So...What's on your mind?"

"I think the ones here are a group called The Last Hope...Though they should have been dissolved, alongside with the rest of the Anti-Skullgirls Labs."

Valerie blinked, intrigued. "...Beg your pardon? I am familiar with the Labs but..."

Parasoul sighed. "The Last Hope was a team under the old Lab 7. They're the Lab's scouts and field operators. They were know for being deadly, efficient and discreet...And for dressing up in nurse outfits."

Valerie's eyes blinked and glinted with...Glee? "So that means Lab Seven could be up and running, in secret?"

"...If they are. That means they went rogue and are operating without me knowing...That's dangerous."

"How so? They're fighting against Skullgirls, aren't they our allies?"

"The Labs are ruthless, unscrupulous and unpredictable. They also have hideouts all over the Kingdom."

"They must have so many resources! And without vigilance from the crown that means they'd be free to whatever they wanted! That's so..."

"Dangerous, Valerie."

"...Uh, yeah, dangerous."

Within minutes, all of the Egrets were sat down in a circle on Parasoul's office, Valerie taking Adam's seat for today.

Roxie crossed her arms and grumbled at the doctor, sitting across from her. "What the heck is she doing here? Shouldn't she be in a cell for what she did to Adam?"

Molly spoke up next, a huge device around her waist, which allowed her to quickly communicate with all of the Black Egrets. "Actually, I was just informed and was now relaying to the other Egrets. Suspicions on Miss Valerie were cleared by Princess Parasoul herself, though further explanation as to why was not yet shared."

Panzerfaust was next, barely managing to keep his enormous frame properly sat on the chair, he pointed menacingly at the bluenette. "Well, have we caught who's responsible then? I'll crush them like a twig for hurting my friend!"

"Settle down, everyone." Parasoul spoke up, the Egrets quickly turning their attention to her. "As we were well aware, Adam was attacked with scalpels. Our initial suspicions that these scalpels belonged to Miss Valerie have just been cleared up a few moments ago, by the doctor herself."

"The scalpels used to attack Adam were made to be used as weapons." Valerie clarified. "They aren't the kind we have available here...Or anywhere else, to be honest. They were custom-made."

"I don't see how that clears suspicion from her. It doesn't really mean much. They could still belong to her." Roxie grumbled.

"You really want to find a reason to hit me, don't you?"

"Rather unlikely, Roxie." Parasoul interjected. "Miss Valerie has not left the premises of the Palace ever since she became a recruit and if she had brought such weapons with her, they would've been found once her luggage was inspected."

Roxie shrugged. "Not like she couldn't be hiding them somewhere else. She could probably hide those in her cleavage, the size her tits are."

Though Parasoul frowned disapprovingly at Roxie's insistence, Valerie laughed it off. "That's actually a very good idea. I've got to try doing that, sometime. Though I'd probably need to do something to keep the blades from cutting me open."

"Enough." Parasoul demanded. "We're wasting precious time here. Officer Kapowski was already seriously hurt by this mysterious infiltrator, we need to deal with the situation before she hurts anyone else."

"I've already ordered the night patrol to triple their efforts, your Majesty." Informed Molly. "But she's sneaky. Adam was the only one who actually caught her, the others never report anything more than shadows or weird noises."

"Our first priority should be to find out what she's after." Valerie began. "Once we figure that out-"

"I don't remember anyone saying you were going to order around the investigation, Doc." Roxie snarled in response.

"She has a point though, if we find out what they're searching for, we might be able to devise a plan to catch her off guard."

"But..." Panzerfaust scratched his head. "What are they after then? Do we have any idea?"

All of them frowned upon being reminded of that. There was absolutely no information or lead to follow, no way of knowing what was it that they were-

Someone knocked on the door to the office and then proceeded to open it up. "Perhaps...I can help with that."

"Adam!" Parasoul got up from her seat and hurried over. Adam was still in pretty bad shape, he had gotten his uniform back on but his pained expression and hunched over posture indicated that he shouldn't be up at all.

Valerie freed up Adam's seat, allowing him to sit up with the rest of the Egrets, glancing around, the Doctor then decided to take her seat on top of Parasoul's desk, participating on the reunion from a little bit further away.

After adjusting himself to the chair, Adam started. "Like I was saying...I think I have an idea what this woman is after. I bumped into her while I was going to check on Umbrella." As Parasoul seemed to grit her teeth, Adam continued. "There's usually only a short time in the middle of the night where Umbrella's room is left unguarded, while the guards are switching off their shifts. I was passing by at the moment and figured I'd have a look if everything was in order, what with what I had heard about mysterious sightings and what not."

The officer grumbled a bit, resting his back against the chair. "That was when I spotted this woman with sneaking her way in through the window-"

"Aren't all the windows supposed to be closed and lock by that time?" Parasoul questioned.

"Someone must have opened it for her to come in...Maybe it was the second woman."

"...Second one?"

Adam nodded. "When she acknowledged me seeing her, she warned her friend, who then threw the scalpels at me." Adam sighed. "That's...All I remember."

"So there's two people in this? And they're after my sister?" Parasoul growled, her eyes brimming with rage. "I won't allow any harm to come upon my family..."

"There's more to it than that, in case you missed it." Valerie mumbled, her legs waving back and forth as she sat on the chair. "Officer Kapowsky here said this happened in Umbrella's room. However, three things about that strike me as odd." She began. "First off, why wasn't Adam found in Umbrella's room? This would mean that once he had been taken out and assumed dead, they moved him somewhere else to avoid drawing suspicion to Umbrella's quarters. Second, why would they need more than one person? If they were trying to kill or kidnap the small Princess...Well, that's not exactly hard now, is it? She's not particularly big or heavy. Which then brings me to my third point...It's clear that they're not interested in harming Umbrella, seeing as if they wanted to, they could have done that right after getting Adam out of the way, or on the several other times that weird sightings happened. So that leads me to think that they have other plans for her. What, however, I've no idea."

Panzerfaust huffed. "Well, I say we catch them and beat that info out of them. What's the plan?"

Roxie had been quiet for a while, she snapped her fingers, calling attention to herself, before then starting. "We could get a decoy for Umbrella and have the rest of us be hidden around the room. Once these two...If they're not more, show up. We come out of hiding and teach them a thing or two about messing with us."

Molly nodded. "Yeah! But...Where are we going to find someone small enough to be the decoy for Umbrella?"

As Molly spoke that, she then realized all of the eyes on the room set on her. "...Now hold on..."

A few hours and a pink wig later, Molly was nicely tucked into Umbrella's bed. While the real princess had been moved to sleep with her sister in her room, the other Egret officers hid to their best ability within the childish room.

Valerie stuffed herself inside of Umbrella's closet, Roxie squeezed her way below the bed and Panzerfaust melded into a bunch of stuffed toys, his antenna being the only thing sticking out from the pile of fluff. All of them were keeping contact with each other with small headsets, provided by Molly herself.

Panzerfaust spoke up. "Teddy Bear to Boogey Woman, can you hear me, Boogey Woman?" Roxie rolled her eyes and replied. "Yes, I hear you, Panzerfaust. Can I ask again why do we need to use codenames?"

"Closet Girl to Boogeyman. Oh come on, Boogey Woman~~ You need to lighten up a bit. Don't you like your nickname? Pink Trap, how's the situation out there?"

"Pink Trap to Closet Girl. Everything's quiet so far...I haven't noticed or heard anything out of the usual. Are you guys sure that they'll fall for this? I mean...Look, I know I'm small but-"

"Teddy Bear to Pink Trap. Don't worry! I have never seen a better decoy for a pink-haired baby princess in my entire life."

"...Thanks, Teddy Bear...I think."

"Shut up the lot of you." Snarled Roxie. "The patrol gap is going to come up in a few minutes!"

Within moments, the sounds of footsteps moving away from Umbrella's door echoed away from the other side of the wall as the Egret guard left his shift. It didn't take much more than a few seconds until the room's door creaked open, only to then close again.

"Panzerfaust." Whispered Molly. "What do you see?"

Panzerfaust's mechanical eyes let out a very low click, activating his nightvision as he tried to get a good look at whoever was coming in. He started responding. "Pale woman, dark hair, dark clothes, nurse hat, nurse uniform, actually...Has what appears to be some kind of...Gag around her mouth. Looks like stuff straight out from those adult magazines. She appears to have something sharp in her fingers but I can't really get a good look from my position."

"Closet Girl here. Keep watching only, we know there's at least one more person who's going to show up, we need to try and catch them all by surprise."

"Teddy Bear here, she's heading straight for the bed. Be ready to act fast, Pink Trap."

"...Roger that." Molly replied, though in reality she shivered and trembled with fear. Usually, when she had to fight, she didn't have particularly impressive physique or skill like the rest of the team, she mostly fought with her mech suit, crafted specially for her by Roxie. Needless to say, her mech suit was nowhere nearby this time around and she had been forced to do this with nothing more than a small Mauser pistol, which she clutched tightly in her hands. But that's all right! She wasn't going to need her suit...She was going to show that infiltrator a one two about why no one fucks with Molly, the Black Egrets Communications Officer! And then she felt something being jabbed in her arm...Ow.

"Teddy Bear to team. The suspect seems to have jabbed some sort of needle into Pink Trap! Pink Trap, do you read me?"

"Pink Trap...Is...Sleepy..."

"Closet Girl here. It's probably a sleep serum, try to keep conscious for as long as you can, Molly. Don't worry though, whatever it is, it's not lethal...Probably."

"Teddy Bear here, the woman is moving to the window. She's gonna let her accomplice in now, I think."

As expected, the grim nurse opened up the window and, after a short wait, another woman sneaked her way inside down from the rooftops and through the window. Per Panzerfaust's description, this one also had a nurse uniform, though it was much more..."Daring" and bright and left little to imagination, what seemed to be some kind of black lingerie mixing up with her uniform. Her hair was of a strong red color, and she had square-framed glasses carefully placed on her face, which covered up a big vertical scar on her left eye. She fixed said glasses in place, pushing them up a bit.

"Good job, Hallow. Let's get started right away, is she already sedated?" The redhead questioned.

The grim nurse nodded in response, her voice probably restrained by the leather mask on her face as she spoke. "Yes, Christmas. Unexpected they haven't tightened security, considering what happened yesterday."

Christmas shrugged in response. "Ho ho ho ho~~ Oh, Hallow, you expect too much from these imbeciles. They're probably still trying to get that guy fixed up by now. Regardless, our time is short, for tonight's experiment, we shall be taking a blood sample from the girl to check if there is any actual trace of the Skull heart within it. Did you bring an empty syringe, Hallow?"

"Always walk around with one." The black haired woman replied, before then skulking over to Molly, who currently struggled to keep herself conscious.

"Closet Girl to the rest...Get ready..."

Hallow reached over and grabbed the sheets covering Molly, who held tightly to her pistol.

"...Ready..."

As Hallow began to pull the sheet out of the way, Molly unlocked the pistol and moved her finger over to the trigger.

"NOW!"

As Hallow pulled off the sheets, Molly raised her pistol and fired...She missed, the bullet opening a hole in roof, Molly fell unconscious pretty much immediately after. Almost in a chorus, Valerie burst out of the closet and Panzerfaust sprung out from his hiding spot. Hallow staggered backwards, having barely just avoided a point-blank shot, Christmas muttered out a short 'shit', before she pulled out a few scalpels.

Wait a second.

Adam said that when he was attacked, who threw the scalpels at him was already in the him once he saw someone else enter. Assuming they were using the same strategy as before then...As Valerie thought of this, and her arm was still raising her gun towards Christmas and Hallow, she noticed Panzerfaust walking past the open window as he charged towards the two nurses.

"Panzer! Caref-"

Christmas's voice overshadowed the doctor's warning. "Patty! Back up!"

Almost instantly upon request, the third member of the team showed up, swinging her way in through the window and slamming a Javelin on Panzerfaust's chest, painting the super soldier's uniform red. The giant staggered backwards and slammed against a wall, hurrying to his feet as his attacker pulled out the javelin. Before him stood a small girl, barely five feet tall, carrying a three foot long javelin. Her thick long horns protruding from her blonde hair seemed to imply gigan descent, though her actual height seemed to imply otherwise.

She spoke up, her voice immediately obnoxious from the very start. "Now now Mister, don't you know? You're supposed to keep it green on St. Patrick's day. Won't you try to bleed a little less?"

"Panzerfaust!" Valerie cried out, only to them be suddenly reminded of the other two "nurses" as she dodged out of the way from Christmas's scalpels. Taking a moment to stare at the blades getting stuck to the wardrobe behind her, and being thankful she wasn't between the two, she turned her attention once more forward, only to then be tackled by Christmas. Valerie's pistol slipped off her hand and off into a corner of the room, before she could reach for it, she found the redhead nurse throwing herself on top of her, trying to shove a scalpel directly into Valerie's throat. Grabbing hold of Christmas's wrists, Valerie struggled to get the nurse, and the scalpel, away.

Hallow recovered from the shock and, upon assessing the situation, her first thought was to go and help Christmas. As she was about to step forward, however, she found herself restrained, a hand from below the bed kept a tight grip on her ankle. Roxie promptly pulled on Hallow's leg as she dragged herself out from below the bed, her other hand holding her wrench tightly as she went on to smack Hallow right in the face with it.

Much to Patty's surprise, Panzerfaust sprung back into action, already throwing a punch at the fair-sized girl, as his enormous fist collided with her body, the sounds of bones cracking echoed through the room before the girl was sent flying off the very window she came from. "You ain't even wearing green!" With Panzerfaust dashing and bursting his way through the window as he went after her.

"Patty!" Christmas called out in panic, giving Valerie just enough time to flip the redhead away from her. As Christmas slammed against the wall, the doctor quickly got up and rushed for her pistol, just need to get the pistol and- Sharp pain behind right leg, glancing back, scalpel stuck in her leg. Losing balance, Valerie stumbled forward, pulling the scalpel out of her leg and then throwing herself against a wall for balance. She glanced down at the pistol, but before she could reach for it, Christmas lunged at her again. Using the scalpel she had just removed off herself, Valerie parried the attack as both women locked each other with the blades in hand.

Christmas chuckled. "Hohoho~~ You're a bit tougher than you look...You don't look familiar though. New addition, I'm guessing?" Valerie threw her head forward, headbutting Christmas and causing the nurse to stagger backwards. "Something like that. You working for Lab Seven, I take it? Figured you guys had been shut down."

Hallow kicked Roxie away from herself and then hopped backwards, creating some distance between the two before she raised her hand. It was at this moment Roxie managed to get a good look at this nurse's gauntlet, it was like an enormous gun filled with syringes. It started spinning and it's needles glimmered with anticipation. The mechanic simply mumbled out "Shit" before she dashed to cover, kicking over a nearby table and then ducking behind it. The sound of the syringes prickling against the wooden frame of the table quickly started echoing around the room, with Hallow slowly stepping closer as she tried to get a clear shot at Roxie.

Panzerfaust landed on the outside of the palace and looked ahead to see Patty crumpled up like a rag doll not too far ahead, the gigantic man started stomping towards her direction, cracking his knuckles. "I almost feel bad beating up a pipsqueak like you. Almost." As he said that, Patty suddenly got up, using her javelin to hoist herself up, she cracked her own neck and then glared at the soldier. "Now you really made Patty mad, Mister!" She roared, before jumping in Panzerfaust's direction and drop kicking his chest, her two feet spontaneously growing to an enormous size and adding to the impact of the blow, which then sent Panzerfaust flying backwards, slamming his back against a wall and cracking his back and the concrete. "...I hate...Gigans." He grumbled, as Patty slowly made her way towards him, her feet now back to normal size.

Christmas grumbled at the headbutt and then replied. "Well, you can't really expect the Egrets to be able to handle a real Skullgirl menace, now can you?" She laughed once more, as Valerie tried to reach for the gun again, Christmas kicked it away and then, delivered a second kick to Valerie's chest. "Now now, going for the gun while I'm talking will get you on the naughty list, Miss." The doctor grumbled in pain but then quickly dodged to the side, avoiding a scalpel to the face, before replying. "Maybe not...But I don't see how skulking into a young girl's room in the middle of the night would be any help either."

Christmas and Valerie started circling around each other, each one with a scalpel in hand as they feinted and dodged each other.

"Unless of course...Princess Umbrella has something to do with the Skullheart because of her mother..." Valerie theorized, Christmas smiled.

"How astute of you. So you're tougher and smarter than you look. Full of surprises, aren't you?" She questioned, before then going for a stab, which Valerie promptly dodged.

"Well, someone's gotta be, you've been pretty boring so far. I kind of expected more from the Labs, quality must've really taken a hit after the Renoirs shut you guys down, eh?"

Christmas snarled at Valerie and tried to tackle the doctor again, both women fell on the bed, pushing the still unconscious Molly out of it. Seeing the gun the Communications Officer had let go of on the bed, Valerie reached out for it and smacked Christmas on the side of her head with it. Getting up from the bed and then pointing the gun at Christmas. "It's over-"

"Don't move a muscle." Came a muffled voice from Valerie's side, from the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Hallow's syringe gun aimed at her face. Another sound then followed, as Roxie put Valerie's pistol, which she had caught off the ground, next to Hallow's head.

The four women exchanged nervous glares before Valerie spoke up. "Well, seems you're all out of luck...I'm pretty sure Roxie is pretty comfortable with this outcome."

Roxie simply shook her head in disapproval, before pulling the hammer of the gun back and speaking up. "Yeah sure, Doc. How about we all put the guns down and you guys come peacefully, that way nobody needs to get lead in their heads."

Christmas chuckled calmly. "An interesting proposal...I got a better idea though. Easter!"

As her name was called, "Easter" burst in the room through the main door, a few Egret soldiers flailing about as they were tossed out of the way alongside with the doors. Easter was a gigantic woman, one could guess easily around seven feet, and just as monstrously wide.

Roxie stared, frozen at the gigantic figure that had just emerged. "...Shit."

Easter quickly solved and cleaned up the stalemate, slamming what appeared to be some kind of big body bag at the group and forcing them to scatter.

"G-Gah! Easter! Be careful with that thing!"

"Well, excuse me!" The large woman replied. "I can't really be selective while I'm smashing things down."

"Enough! Last Hope, we're leaving." Christmas shouted, mobilizing Hallow and Easter to jump out through the window. As Christmas followed after, Valerie did her best to try and get a clear shot on the nurse, firing a few shots as her aim tried to catch up with the woman. "See you next time, "Doc"." Christmas teased, before then escaping herself.

Valerie let out an annoyed "Tch", frustrated she wasn't able to stop that woman from getting away. She slowly slumped her way over to the window and glanced down at Panzerfaust's exhausted figure. "You okay there, big guy?"

Panzerfaust slowly looked up to see his opponent, the gigan known as Patty running off with the rest of her team. Raising up his arm tank, he took aim for a bit and then fired. A huge capsule fired from his weapon and headed straight for the team. Seeing the incoming danger, the grim nurse, the one known as Hallow, threw herself in the way as she tried to protect the other members, her whole body being covered up in what appeared to some sort of sticky net, which glued her to the ground. "Damnit, Hallow!" Christmas grumbled, before then realizing the approaching Egrets. "We'll come back, don't worry!" She promised, before then running off with the rest of the team.

"Got one!" Panzerfaust exclaimed victoriously, before then falling down to the ground, exhausted. Valerie smiled and nodded in approval, as did Roxie, once she got to the window to have a look at what happened. As all the confusion started to die down a bit, Molly finally started waking up, blinking a few times before she rubbed her eyes and looked around. "...Uh...What...What did I miss?" The small woman questioned, confused, as she adjusted her round glasses in place.

"Call the Princess." Valerie requested. "Tell her we caught one of the intruders...She's going to want to have a talk with her, I imagine." Molly nodded and immediately got on with communicating the capture to Princess Parasoul. Valerie huffed, exhausted as well. Tomorrow, they would interrogate this "Hallow" and get some answers...But first. Valerie glanced down at the wound on her leg. She and the rest of the Egrets involved in this mess were going to need some patching up...The prisoner could wait until tomorrow, after all.


	5. Thoracotomy (Chapter 5)

((Howdy. Sorry to keep you all waiting. This chapter was originally going to be bigger but I decided to cut it up a bit. On the bright side, this means Chapter 6 is pretty much finished, in my head at least, I just need to actually get it all typed down. Without further ado though...))

"How's your leg? You seem to be better." Parasoul questioned, carefully examining Valerie as she walked.

The bluenette shot a smile. "Aww, concerned about me, are you?" She teased before then dropping herself on a nearby sofa.

"Just answer the question, Doctor."

The doctor slowly shifted to face the princess, shooting a nod towards her. "I'm good. Stings a bit when I walk but I should be good to go. Ideally, doctor's orders would be not to put strain on the leg...But I'm the doctor, so I do what I want."

Parasoul rolled her eyes at the comment, before then glancing around her office suspiciously and then slowly sitting down next to Valerie, her lips slowly parting in a smile. "When I heard you guys met up with resistance on the ambush, I was really worried. I'm sorry I wasn't there with you, I needed to watch over my little sister." Parasoul gently placed her hand on top of Valerie's as she continued. "Also, I owe you an apology for accusing you of being a traitor. So, I'm sorry, Val, I hope you can forgive me."

The doctor blinked a few times at Parasoul's sudden shift in attitude, it was almost like it was completely different person. It would be interesting to see, how many masks the Queen of The Canopy Kingdom could wear...And see which wasn't a mask at all. "It's fine." Valerie finally replied. "You were looking out for your family and you were under pressure from the Egrets, I understand." Valerie nervously scratched her cheek with her free hand. "So uh...I don't want to feel like I'm prodding you but...We good? I mean, we never really talked about-"

Valerie was cut off as the Princess shushed her, taking a deep breath before she then finally explained. "I'm sorry about that too. I should have...Apologized earlier. I mean, I didn't even make any kind of previous advances and...I think it was the alcohol, honestly. That and-"

"Oh, I was not really...I wasn't really complaining."

"Uhm...Oh, I see...So you're saying you..."

"Enjoyed it? Well, yeah."

"I thought you said...You weren't interested in..."

"Oh no no no. I didn't mean to imply that we would...Do that. I mean, you're right, I'm not really interested in...That thing. But uh...I am somewhat interested in you."

"So...What are you saying?"

"Well, I guess that...I was never really...Close with anyone for a long time and uh. Well, we're going to be seeing each other a lot from now on, what with me becoming an Egret and what not so...I was just thinking we could, you know. Be...Close."

"That's a bit...Forward, don't you think, Val?"

"I didn't imply we should jump into that right away!" The doctor exclaimed, flustered. "I just would like to try, that's all, if you're okay with that, that is."

"Well I-" The moment was cut off as the door to Parasoul's office slowly swung open, the Princess immediately let go of Valerie's hand and, as if by reflex, her expression shifted back to the cold, serious gaze. Valerie's own expression changed as well, though it seemed to just dim with Parasoul's change of personality. It was so excruciatingly frustrating seeing this, so far, Valerie had counted three different Parasouls, there was the charming and calm Parasoul, always smiling to greet her guests and new acquaintances, always prepared, always serene. Then there was the military Parasoul, which was the one usually leading the Egrets, she was stoic, straight to the point, firm and cold as ice. Valerie hated those two, she hated them thoroughly...They were the two usual faces of monarchy, one a fake smile ready to be thrown at anyone...The other, a sharp dagger held behind your back, ready to pierce right through you if you get on it's way...Then, there was the third Parasoul, for which the doctor hadn't yet thought of a title yet, it was this Parasoul who she had met that night after the Chess Game, the one she had been talking to up until just a bit.

Adam stood by the door, examining Parasoul and Valerie, who then let out a tired sigh. Adam awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "Uhm...Am I interrupting something? It's important, so."

Parasoul got up from her sofa. "Not at all. Doctor Valerie was simply making me a...Proposal. Which, I will think about...Later. What is it, Adam?"

The blue haired girl cursed under her breath at the dismissal, getting up from her seat as well and already heading out as Adam spoke. "As per your orders, Your Majesty, the intruder from yesterday is currently detained in the Palace's Cell Block A. She is fully restrained and ready for your interrogation, when you're ready."

Parasoul nodded. "Good, I'll go talk to her right away...Doctor Valerie, I would request you to accompany me."

The bluehead stopped on her tracks and turned to Parasoul. "Me...? What for?"

"Your insight and wisdom allowed us this capture, you predicted and understood their objective and how to exploit that. I would like you to be with me when I interrogate the intruder, you might catch something others might miss."

"I ah...Sure, I'll go."

"Excellent, Adam, let's go."

Officer Adam nodded and walked off ahead. "This way then."

It took little more than a short walk and the three Egrets now found themselves in the Palace's holding cells, contrasting with the rest of the castle that was bright and light, this whole area was dim, damp and dark, heavy bars of steel kept them from coming near the bunch of criminals who resided here, as they saw Parasoul walk by them, they snarled and grumbled at their captor. Parasoul suddenly opened up Krieg and held it out towards the cell, protecting herself and Valerie as the prisoner within hurled a...Well...Something. At them from within their cell.

"Someone's popular." The doctor mumbled.

"You can't always make everyone love you. If you can't make them love you, make them fear you, if they insist on hating you...Make sure they at least can't do any damage." The Princess replied, stoic.

Valerie glanced at Parasoul for a bit but then turned her attention to the matter at hand, the "nurse" known as Hallow. With a flick of his finger, Adam lit up the cell from outside, illuminating Hallow, who sat peacefully on a bench in the middle of the room, her eyes slowly opened, dark, deep, blue eyes, slowly raised to meet with the Egrets on the other side of the metal bars.

"Hm? Oh, it's you again." She sighed. "I'd advise against wasting your time...I'm not going to tell you anything. But...You're going to try it anywas, aren't you?"

Parasoul crossed her arms and turned to Adam. "What have you gotten out of her?"

The officer shook his head. "Nothing, really. She goes by Hallow, as we already found out. But that's probably a codename. Other than that, we haven't been able to squirm anything out of her. She just downright refuses to talk to us...She seems to think he colleagues are going to get her out of here soon, though. By your order, Princess, I'd like to reinforce security around the holding cells."

"Go ahead. I'll try talking to her myself in the meantime." Parasoul replied, before taking a deep breath.

"If I may." Valerie interjected. "I don't think talking is going to do much here. If you move her to my clinic...Well...I have other ways to make her talk."

"...What are you suggesting, Doctor?" Parasoul questioned, raising a brow. "She might be a prisoner, but I will not be as barbaric as to resort to torture."

"Need I remind you that they were probably running experiments on your little sister?" Valerie replied, Parasoul's expression going grim almost instantly. "She may look fine now, but we don't know what they did or what they're after...Perhaps it'd be best to get that information as soon as possible, to avoid further complications. Besides, who knows what else we could find here? If the Labs have been operating independently, there must be things they've discovered about the Skullgirls that we don't know about...Yet."

Adam listened, discontent. "...Princess Parasoul, you're not honestly considering-"

"Desperate situations, require...Desperate measures. Adam, cuff her and get her to Doctor Valerie's clinic, then I want all Egrets to give her space to do...What she must."

"Princess Parasoul, I must objec-"

"That's an order, Adam." The Princess added, with a glare.

"...Yessir." Adam saluted and went to get the keys to the cell. Valerie chuckled.

"Oh, he didn't like that. Careful now, if you keep siding with me like that, people might start thinking we're in cahoots together." The doctor giggled.

"Doctor Valerie, this is serious. Don't think that this is a decision I am making lightly. I expect you are able to find us good information regarding the Skullgirls, and, most importantly, what has been done to my sister. If you are not able to get results out of this, I fear I will have to be a lot more...Careful, regarding your future suggestions."

Valerie sighed, resting her hands against her hips. "...Yeah yeah, I'll get something, don't worry."

"Good, I certainly hope so. I'll be back in a few hours."

A short few moments later, Hallow would find herself tied down to Valerie's operating table, struggling slightly at the bindings, she sighed. "You're wasting your time, you know."

Valerie at her victim, chuckling a bit as she pulled out two clothespins connected to some sort of battery, she gently patted the two against each other, a spark bursting out from the touch. "We'll see you say that...After the operation."

Roughly two hours later, Princess Parasoul knocked on the door to Valerie's clinic. Valerie slowly opened up the door and, once she recognized Parasoul's face, opened it fully. "Ah, there you are...I found out quite a bit, believe it or not. You'll love hearing it." Parasoul nodded in approval but was then...Shocked to see Hallow still tied to the operating table, being electrocuted, her body shivering and twitching as the electricity ran through her.

"D-Doctor Valerie, seeing as you discovered what you wanted, perhaps you should stop torturing the prisoner now?"

Valerie scratched the back of her head nervously. "About that...The torture didn't exactly go as planned."

"...What do you mean?"

Valerie seemed hesitant, but then simply decided to show instead of explain, she turned off the electricity. Hallow instantly huffed, moaning and gasping for air, her leather mask having been pulled down to her chin. "Why are you stopping? I answered all that you wanted~~Turn it up, it was just starting to feel good~~"

Valerie stared at Parasoul, Parasoul stared at Valerie, Valerie shrugged.

"Egrets! Get her back to her cell, now!" The princess ordered as soldiers quickly emerged and escorted the still...Stunned Hallow back to her cell, much to her displeasure.

"You know, it was funny, because she started moa-"

Parasoul cut Valerie off. "We are not talking about this. Just tell me what you learned."

"As you wish, Princess. Well...First things first, I confirmed our suspicions of the Anti-Skullgirl Labs being back up, independently. They have been conducting research and attempting to further their knowledge about the Skullheart and the Skullgirls, though now a bit more...Illegally." Valerie took a deep breath and then continued. "Regarding your sister...They have been trying to develop more Anti-Skullgirl Units, such as what Panzerfaust was originally made to be. I wasn't able to get THAT much out of this, but it seems your sister, due to how she was born after Queen Nancy obtained the Skullheart...Uhm, how do I put this. Your sister appears to have a unique connection with the Skullheart and, possibly, Skullgirl blood. They apparently were gathering samples, they didn't get to do anything with Umbrella. To be honest...I don't think they're going to be bothering us anymore. Well, except when they come rescue their friend there. I'm intrigued as to what they could have found from Umbrella, however, I wasn't aware that it was possible for someone to actually have a connection to the Skullheart like that, I would like to-"

"No."

"What- But Princess Parasoul, if we're going to be fighting Skullgirls then-"

"We'll fight them with what we have or what we learn from fighting them. I'm not getting my sister involved in this."

"I understand your concern, but if she can be useful to us-"

"Doctor Valerie my sister is not an asset to be used against the Skullgirls, you will not ask for this again, am I clear?"

"...Crystal clear, your Majesty." The doctor replied, between gritted teeth.

"Now...I'm sure there's more we can get out of that woman, but that's enough for today. I shall be increasing security on the Cells, but if you see anything out of normal, let me or Adam know immediately. Good night, Doctor Valerie." Parasoul concluded, slamming the door behind her.

Valerie took a deep breath and then sat on the operating table, grumbling in annoyance. "Unbelievable...Can't she see dealing with the Skullgirls is more important than sheltering her sister? Well, I guess at least now I know where her priorities are." The doctor huffed, glancing aside and fiddling through her equipment that was beside the table. Those "Last Hope" girls, they fought using a bunch of medical equipment adapted for battle. She grabbed a stethoscope...Nah, that couldn't be adapted, no way. She browsed around a bit more...Maybe a scalpel? No no no, that redhead bitch already did that. Valerie then caught sight of her bone saw, she hadn't really gotten the chance to use it since no one in the Egrets ever got hurt THAT bad. But...This could probably be used as a weapon, couldn't it? She pondered out loud, spinning the tool in hand as she held it like a sword. "Heh, still feels pretty silly though."

Her door shut behind her. But...Wait, the door was already closed from when Parasoul slammed it shut, which means...

As a reflex, Valerie quickly spun her body around and aimed the bone saw at the invader, which happened to be a very confused Roxie. "...Uh, hi." The mechanic spoke up, blinking a few times. "Can you...Get the saw off my face, please?"

With a sigh, Valerie slowly lowered the tool. "Don't sneak up on me like that. I'm a bit on edge."

"Dully noted." Roxie replied, idly glancing around the room as she figured out her own words.

Valerie spoke up first. "...Well, what do you want? Here to bark at me some more?"

"No. I ah..." Roxie took a deep breath, scratching the back of her head in thought before continuing. "I just came to apologize, all right? I have been giving you a hard time ever since you got here...Though I don't feel that was without reason, you've proven yourself to be invaluable for this team. So, I was just hoping we could, you know, not hate each other?"

"Well, you're the one who was always suspecting me and-"

"Yes, yes, I know, that's why I came here to apologize."

"Right." Valerie's lips slowly crooked into a smile and she nodded her head. "Apology accepted...Just ah...Try to trust me a bit more in the future, yes?"

"Now you're asking for too much." The mechanic replied, grinning.

"Cute." Valerie sat on her operating table. "Was there anything else?"

"No, that was it-Actually, yes, there's something else I wanted to talk about." Roxie remembered, smacking her hands together. "All the high-ranking officers of the Egrets usually gather up Friday Night for Poker, would you like to join us today? We usually get some drinks and gather up around ten o'clock and get to playing. We usually make low bets, so you don't need to worry about cash too much-"

Valerie raised a brow. "I'm not even a proper Egret yet. Also, it's been a while since I played Poker-"

"Princess Parasoul joins sometimes too."

"I'll consider it." Valerie cut off, making Roxie a tad confused. "I mean, I ah...I might show up...Might not, we'll see. You sure the game's not going to be canceled though? What with the Palace being in high alert with the new prisoner and what not?"

Roxie shook her head. "The other Egrets can handle it. I know yesterday wasn't exactly the best display of that, but the force is really quite competent once they set their minds on things."

"And are their minds set and focused?"

"They took the invasion quite personally, so yes, I believe they are."

"All right, all right...I'll try to show up. You sure the others won't mind though?"

"Uh, actually, most of the folks already wanted to invite you for a while. I was the one objecting." She confessed, nervously shrugging at Valerie.

Valerie simply shook her head. "Right...Well, no harm done, I suppose."

Roxie nodded, heading for the door. "I'll see you there then, Doctor."

"Later." Valerie waved, watching as the mechanic closed the door on her way out. The doctor's eyes slowly drifted to the floor and then to the bone saw, which she was still holding. She stared at it longingly, dubiously, curiously.

"So, pairs only count for numbers, right? Like, you can't get a pair with two clubs, right?" Valerie questioned from behind a small pile of a hundred or so chips.

Adam gritted his teeth, protectively clenching his remaining ten chips. "You already tried that trick, Doctor...Thrice. I'm not falling for that again." He snarled back, angry.

Roxie grumbled some, five chips on her side. "...Why did I invite you over again?"

Panzerfaust sat by himself in a corner of the room, whining over his lost cash.

Meanwhile, the diminutive Molly sweated bullets, having around eight chips remaining. "I uh...I'll fold." She spoke, defeated.

Roxie took a deep breath and simply pushed her chips over to Valerie. "I fold too."

Adam slammed his fist on the table. "No! I'm not letting the rookie win it all like this. As Second-In-Command of the Egrets, I will stand my ground. I call your bluff, Doctor Valerie. And what more, I raise your bet, I'm going ALL IN!" He announced loudly and proudly, before pushing all of his ten chips forward.

The game continued for a while, with Adam joining Panzerfaust in the corner of shame. The door to the Egret's game slowly slung open, all eyes turned to look as Princess Parasoul's form appeared within the door's frame. The redhead fixed her hair a bit and then slowly stepped her way down to the table. "I was waiting for Umbrella to fall asleep...I see we have a new player here tonight, hmm?" Parasoul questioned, shooting a smile at Valerie, who replied with a simple roll of her eyes.

Parasoul frowned a bit, before then glancing over at the table and taking a seat. "So...How much are we playing with?" The princess questioned, adjusting herself in the chair.

Roxie spoke up. "Each chip is worth five bones. We settled on the minimum of twenty-five chips to play."

Parasoul blinked a few times, shocked. "Minimum one-hundred and twenty-five bones? That's...A lot more than you guys usually bet. What happened to the whole "Let's keep it just enough so the winner could buy a fancy dinner" rule?"

Valerie laughed in response. "Oh, what's the matter, Princess? Is it too much cash for your royal coffers to risk losing?"

"...Fetch me a hundred chips." She demanded, taking out her wallet and then slamming the cash on the table.

Roxie stood up from her chair, taking her chips. "Oooookay! Cashing out! Not gonna play anymore, not with you two. Molly, you leaving too, right?"

The Communications Officer meeped in response, glancing at her two remaining chips on the table. "U-Uh...I think I'll be cashing ou-"

She was cut off by Parasoul. "Now come on, Molly. Don't be like that, there's no need to be afraid. It's just a friendly game."

Valerie continued, her eyes locked with Parasoul's, despite the fact she was addressing Molly. "Besides, playing only against the Princess might get a bit boring, you'll stick around so the game's interesting, won't you Molly?"

"Well, Molly?" Parasoul probed further.

"Come on, woman up." Valerie teased.

The little officer looked like she was about to cry, but reached into her wallet and pulled out the Bones bills, handing them over to Roxie so she would get the chips. With a sigh, the mechanic complied and delivered the chips, before leaving. "It's your funeral." She added, before closing the door behind her.

"Well then, now where we? Oh yes, I believe I was going to end your little winning streak, Doctor Valerie." The princess smirked as she received her cards.

"Well, if your ability to put on a poker face is as good your ability to change attitudes, I think I might actually be outmatched." The doctor replied, glancing at her own cards.

While Molly nervously grabbed her own cards in the background, Parasoul replied. "What are you talking about?"

Valerie chuckled and hissed back. "Well, you got a variety of masks, don't think I haven't noticed...You got one for greeting people, one for leading the Egrets...One for-"

"They're not "masks", as you put it. You can't expect me to act the same way around everyone. That's etiquette."

"Call it whatever you like. Feels like a mask to me...Makes it hard to know for sure what you're really thinking...Or what you really feel."

"Is this really the place for this discussion, Doctor?"

"Why not? Were else would we have this discussion, something always gets in the way during other times so I might as well bring it up now, no? Or what, are you preoccupied that this is too "risky" for your status?"

Parasoul's teeth gritted through a smile. "I take risks, sometimes, but not when the costs of it outweighs what we could win." She glanced at her cards and then at Valerie's face. "All in." She announced, before then pushing all of her chips forward. "What about you, Doctor Valerie? Will you ever understand that not all risks are worth taking?"

"Nope. I'm going all in as well." She snarled back, pushing all her chips forward as well. "I'm not afraid, unlike yourself."

Molly slowly started speaking. "Ah...Uh...Speaking of being afraid, I think I'm going to fold-"

"Molly, haven't you heard what I just said? This is a serious game with high-risks and high-rewards, you can't weasel out like that. Be a woman, go all in with us." Valerie demanded.

"Well I...I guess I'll go all in too then..." The small officer mumbled, scared for her life as the two bigger woman continued arguing.

"You can't be always expecting everyone to be always ready to throw away everything at a moment's notice, you don't know what could happen, things don't always work out well." The princess shouted, the discussion clearly not being about poker anymore.

"Well, if you keep being afraid of taking risks, then you're not gonna get anything, either. The world is shaped by people who take opportunities, if you just sit on your comfort zone dealing with things as they come, you're never gonna get anywhere." The doctor replied, slamming her hands on the table.

"It's easy for you to say that, but some of us actually have what to lose, not just a bunch of memories of what they already lost." The princess concluded.

Valerie stared quietly, her red eyes boiling with rage as they were locked with the Renoir's amber orbs. "You have no right saying that...You don't know my past enough to do so."

"I clearly don't need to." The princess replied. "Your attitude and your behavior already tells me all I need to know. You take risks without even thinking about the consequences because, for you, there are no consequences. Just because you don't care what happens to you or others, it doesn't mean everyone else has to deal with it and just let you do what you please."

Valerie was quiet and simply tossed her cards on the table. "...High card, you win."

Parasoul tossed her cards next. "One pair of sixes."

"Royal flush." Came a third nervous, forgotten voice from the other side of the table. Both Valerie, Parasoul and Molly herself stared in disbelief as the cards were laid down. The small officer's eyes filled with tears of joy and her lips cracking up into a huge smile.

Parasoul chuckled and clapped lightly. "Good job, Molly."

Valerie simply stared. "You gotta be kidding me...Bah! I'm done anyways!" The bluehead announced, getting off the chair and stomping her way out of the room, stuffing her hands in her pockets.

With a tired sigh, Parasoul got up and went after her, leaving Molly to bask in her newly acquired loads of cash.

They were playing Poker in the barracks, so all it took was a flight of stairs and Valerie was already in front of her dorm room, she pulled out her keys and quickly opened up the door.

"Doctor Valerie, wait." Parasoul requested, walking up to the medic.

Valerie replied simply with a 'tch' and entered her room, closing the door...Or almost, she found a foot, Parasoul's foot, blocking the door from closing. The princess pressed herself against the door.

"I said wait. Doctor Valerie...Val. Can we talk? Properly?" The redhead requested, once more locking her eyes with the doctor's.

Valerie seemed to be in thought about the subject for a bit, but then simply grunted back. "Now you're calling me Val...Fine, come in." She allowed, moving away from the door. With a sigh of relief, Parasoul entered and slowly shut the door behind her.

"I apologize, I was unnecessarily rude to you. What I said was-"

"Correct. I never really had anything to lose." Valerie finished, her anger fading away to exhaustion. "I was never really attached to anyone or anything. I never was one for making friends...The few ones I got, they're not around anymore." She explained, slowly staggering backwards and dropping herself on her bed. "Either by distance or by war...They all left."

Parasoul slowly walked closer, sitting beside Valerie. "Well...What about family? Your family are your friends too."

"Hah!" Valerie shook her head. "Nah, maybe yours but not mine. My mother and my father always considered me their retirement plan more than anything else, I was a single child and...Well, doctors get paid well, so...Yeah. Don't get me wrong, I do like the profession, just...I wish I had actually been the one to choose."

"Do you still keep in touch with them?"

"Nah, they're gone too. War casualties from the Grand War." Valerie clarified, looking off into the distance. "So much for me being their retirement plan, huh?"

"Well, you're more than that. You also do have what to lose, you probably just don't realize it. Didn't you say you liked the East? Wouldn't you like to travel there, someday?"

"I would, I guess. But it's not really that important to me. I mean, I'll live if I found out I'll never get to do it." She sighed. "Honestly...The one thing I REALLY want to do...Is rid the world of the Skullheart."

"Well, it is a big threat...I'm starting to think you might be a little obsessed though."

"I'm not obsessed!"

"...You wanted to put my sister on an operating table just to find out what The Last Hope learned from her, if they even got anything."

"Well, it's not like I was going to cut her open, I just wanted to get a few blood samples, maybe run a few tests."

Parasoul's expression went grim again. "My sister is not a test subject, Val."

Valerie rolled her eyes. "Whatever, I don't want to argue about this again. I got what you meant already, she's your precious little sister and you're worried about what I might do to her."

"I'm worried..." Parasoul put her hand on top of Valerie's. "For my sister, yes, but I'm also worried about you. You're a big asset to the team and I don't want your obsession with the Skullheart clouding your judgment. There are more important things to be dealt with, especially right now. The Skullheart was destroyed with my mother just a short time ago, it's not going to appear again for a while."

"So what, are we supposed to sit with our heads in our asses until it shows up again?"

"No, but we also don't need to base our life around destroying the thing with disregard for everything else. That's exactly why my father shut down the Labs."

"No, I'm sorry, but your father shut down the Labs because he didn't want people shooting his monster wife."

"Valerie..."

"I'm just saying."

Parasoul took a deep breath and squeezed the doctor's hand, Valerie's rubber glove squeaking a bit in response. "Look, that doesn't matter now, okay? Stop thinking about Skullgirls for a bit, it'll do you good. Maybe it will even help you with that jerk attitude of yours, hm?"

"I'm not THAT much of a jerk."

"...Val, yes you are."

"Well, excuuuuse me, Princess."

"You just proved my point."

"Oh, are we proving points now? Can I try to prove you that letting me run a few experiments on your-"

"No! By the Goddesses, you're impossible!"

"I try." She shrugged a bit, before smiling. "Can I at least try and get more info on the Skullheart out of that Hallow figure though?"

"No, especially considering your methods for getting that information."

"Awww, are you jealous, your Majesty?"

Parasoul rolled her eyes. "No Skullheart, no Skullgirls, end of subject."

Valerie huffed in response. "Didn't I tell you back during that interview that fighting Skullgirls is why I'm joining the Egrets? And that I would-"

"You said you would desert if I got into war with the other kingdoms. I haven't done that, nor do I intend to. I am still going to deal with the Skullgirl menace and I am still going to let you do your research and do your best to try and deal with the problem permanently. But, not now. Right now, what Canopy needs to do, is rebuild. To do that, it's going to need me and the Egrets, all of the Egrets, full attention. It's going to need you. I need you." She requested, holding tightly to Valerie's hand with both of her hands. "Do you remember the first thing you said on that interview?"

"...About your father being a warmongering-?"

"Before that. You said you wanted to help people. So, let's help people, together. You don't need to be killing Skullgirls to make the world a better place. You were already helping others even before my mother became the Skullgirl, were you not?"

"As useless as it was, I guess."

"It wasn't useless. You saved a bunch of lives and you did as much as you could, and no one could ask you for more than that. What you did was brave, amazing and it shows how much of a good heart you have below that jerk shell you build around yourself. It's possibly what I like the most about you."

"Urgh, again with the "jerk" talk? I already told you, I'm not that much of a- Hold on, did you just say you like me?"

"Ah...Yes, I do. Uhm, I'm sorry, was that a bit too straightforward? I didn't mean to imply that-"

"No, it's fine. I ah...Was just a bit surprised. Gladly surprised, by the way. Uhm, wait, what type of "like" are we talking about here? Is it the I like you as a friend type of like...Or the-"

"Val?"

"Look, I just like you too, okay? I know all we did was kiss that one time but...I just really felt a...Thing...Then and...I was hoping you did too. We...Never had much alone time together again to talk this out...I tried to bring it up earlier but. What I'm saying is, I wouldn't mind if what I had to lose was...You. Damn it, that sounded better in my head."

There was a long awkward silence between the two, Parasoul seemed to stare down at the floor in thought, Valerie's eyes skipped back and forth and all over the place, as if desperately seeking out more words to throw, the doctor's lips were slightly open and she breathed heavily, her heart beating strongly and fast within her chest, as loud drums, suffocating her breath as she mentally flailed about for more things to say.

There was such a rush of emotions flowing through her face, that Valerie barely registered Parasoul's hand sliding across her chin, realizing its presence only when the Princess pulled the doctor's face towards her. There was a sharp moment when they felt their breaths grazing against their skin before their lips met once more after so long, leaving the room completely quiet save for the faint beating that they felt from their hearts. It was broken as soon as they pulled away, short, rapid sighs as they stared each other down.

Valerie threw herself forward, feeling a bit of a sting from her injured leg from the sudden movement, but quickly disregarding it as she pushed the Princess against the bed. Placing one hand on the mattress next to where Parasoul's body now laid and then slowly descending herself on top of the redhead, before allowing their lips to meet once again, their eyes closed, Valerie feeling herself smiling both inside and outside as she exchanged caresses with the Princess.

The doctor pulled away temporarily. "Heh. You kissed better when you were drunk, remind me to stock up on alcohol for next time." Parasoul took a deep sigh and, much to Valerie's surprise, pushed her off and got up from the bed. Valerie quickly tried to take back what she said. "H-hey, I was just kidding-"

"There won't be a next time."

"I'm sorry if I offended, I just-"

"It's not that." Parasoul concluded, heading for the door. "Look, we wouldn't work out as an actual couple. Not only would it be rather unprofessional for us to keep this up, I also can't be...Wasting my time with you. I have a kingdom to rebuild, the Egrets need my attention too as does Umbrella, I can't afford to have to share it with someone else and neglect the others."

"You don't need to fit me in an agenda I'm not-"

"I said no, Doctor Valerie." The princess concluded, once again changing her demeanor. "...I wish you a good night."

And with that, Parasoul left the room, closing the door behind her. Valerie was quiet for a moment before she simply let out a long, defeated sigh. "...Fuck."


End file.
